When Fragments Collide
by altheadraxus
Summary: After the Battle of Crait, both the First Order and the Resistance retreated to rebuild. At the same time members of the New Republic/supposed allies of the Resistance threatened to capitulate. Meanwhile Rey still cannot fix the broken lightsaber, Kylo/Ben tries to figure out how to be Supreme Leader, and the Force has its own ideas.
1. Chapter 1

_"Don't do this, Ben."_

 _She answered his plea with one of hers. Her face betrayed everything she was feeling at that moment: his offer had crushed her heart. He was surprised at being rejected, but not surprised enough to not be aware of her tears. He had caused it, first by making her acknowledge her parentage, and then his offer to rule the galaxy with him. But why couldn't she see it? That his offer was to put an end to those very tears. Not just hers, or his hidden ones, but everyone else's who had had to be caught in the crossfire of the Sith, the Jedi, the Resistance, the Order. It was all so meaningless. Let them be damned. They can put an end to all of it and create something better. Something that can free them from these divides._

 _All of a sudden the throne room grew dark. Instinctively he tensed, glancing around him. When his surroundings resurfaced, the corpses of the Praetorian Guards were gone, replaced by black crumbly rocks that withstood the rivers of lava lapping up against them. He sensed a particular sense of fury mixed with anguish. But not his...?_

 _"Ani, you're breaking my heart."_

 _Someone was sobbing. He looked up, and his eyes fell on a woman who reminds him so much of her with her dark hair and eyes. She was also heavily pregnant. He felt his heart falter at her words, yet almost immediately his emotions were washed over with untrammeled anger. Instinctively his arm shot out in front of him, and the woman was lifted off the ground, grasping at her neck even though there was nothing there. He was shouting something, but he couldn't hear it. As he watched her struggle, he realized that he was Force Choking her. But strangely enough, he felt it too..._

 _The next thing he knew, he was embraced by a familiar warmth and the comforting scent of gingerbell. He knew this embrace very well. He had always needed it in the past as a child. Perhaps a bit too much. As the New Republic threatened to fall apart again, the embraces became less and less, hurried and more brief. At times he suspected them to be insincere, especially when they come after quarrels he overheard about how disturbing he is. The last time he received an embrace similar to the one now, it was an embrace meant to send him far away. He should be angry now, resentful... But he's not. Despite himself, if anything, he doesn't want this to end._

 _A gentle hand touched his face, a thumb sweeping over the long scar that marred his features. He hesitated, but eventually steeled himself to look at the person embracing him in the eyes. It was a pair full of forgiveness and hope. But most of all, those eyes spoke of a love that refused to die regardless._

 _"You know, Ben, when I saw first saw you in the Force, you were a glowing ball of light. My light. I'm sorry it became too much for you," the one who had embraced him said with a sad but understanding smile. "I'll be waiting for you. Come home, my love."_

 _A final kiss on the top of his head, a long parting glance, and then she vanished, leaving him once again alone in the cold and darkness._

His eyes snapped open. "Mother..." he whispered shakily. Subconsciously a hand went to the crown of his head where she had left the kiss in his dream. He could smell the gingerbell, as if she was really here.

He got up from his bed and walked over to the wall with a clear glass panel. His quarter's equivalent of a window. He would have preferred it much larger, but it was better than nothing. In all honesty, it was redundant. There was nothing to see but the vast blackness of the galaxy, dotted with planets and stars, some inhabited, some no longer, and others uninhabitable. Often the stillness of the galaxy calmed him, but tonight, it threatened to swallow him up with an inexplicable sadness.

His thoughts went back to his dreams. Should he? He had never consciously attempted this before. But the face of his mother refused to leave his mind. Eventually he cast his hesitation aside, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He let himself tap into the Force, sensing the thrumming of its energy. He searched for that familiar connection, that one Bond...

All he arrived at was emptiness. That was when he knew.

"Mother..."

* * *

Under normal circumstances, she would have been excited to be in a place like Hanna City. After all, growing up in a desert like Jakku, there was nothing much to see except sand, sand, and more sand. Hanna City by contrast was a lush green metropolis, with water features at all the right places. Despite being in the Core Rim, Chandrila enjoyed the strange fortune of continuing to escape getting caught in the crossfires of the Resistance and the First Order, even though it was known they were letting in Republic refugees seeking temporary sanctuary.

The First Order too has been quiet after the Resistance's massive loss on the salt planet of Crait. Of course, there were moments in the past few months when TIE fighters would give chase, but the Falcon always made it through. There were rumors that an internal struggle was incapitating the might of the First Order to act. It might be wishful thinking on the part of those perplexed by the restrained conduct of the Order previously intent on destroying the Alliance and its bases, but for Rey at least, she thought it might not be too far off from the truth.

It was precisely this seemingly absent threat from the First Order which had brought the Resistance party to Chandrila, as a final request from General Leia Organa. It was a strange one, and Poe had protested. But Leia insisted in her final moments with a frail laugh, "I need to wait for someone at home."

When the Chandrila Senate House caught wind of their party and Leia's passing, they had offered to honour her with a procession, befitting that of a Senator who had passed, but to be done privately, in light of the threat by the First Order. Poe had muttered something about them being shameless in claiming Leia once again for themselves, after being the very ones who destroyed her political career. But the entire Resistance team - 11 people now left in all - had agreed in light of Leia's will. It was the least they could do for someone who had sacrificed so much of her youth and her life for the cause, who had lost more family, friends, and allies throughout her life than they could imagine.

So it came to be that majority of them remained behind in the Falcon, parked discreetly in the outer peripheries of Hanna City. Poe, Rey and Finn were the only ones to accompany Leia's hearse into the city towards the Senators Mausoleum. The procession was also to buy time for Commander D'Arcy, who had set out earlier to recruit some allies in the city.

It was a procession without witnesses. Or rather, one where the inhabitants of Hanna City were encouraged to either stay in their homes or avoid the area around the Senators' Mausoleum. Even the senators, with the exception of a junior senator presiding over the procession, were absent. The procession was really just the four of them. So much for honouring a former senator.

"We are not going to lay her to rest at the Senator's Mausoleum," Poe's declaration was an indication he found the procession more an insult instead.

The junior senator scowled at him. "That's not for you to decide."

"Yeah the same goes for you," Poe snorted back. "General - I mean, Senator Organa has left us a will. Lay her to rest at her home."

The junior senator replied cooly. "You are not in charge of her funeral here, the city is."

Poe was about to protest but Rey quickly elbowed him. This was not their place to dictate things. Poe glowered as he continued to accompany the hearst into the Mausoleum's entrance. To the trio's surprise, a small number of people had gathered inside. Many wore the senatorial robes, hinting to their identities as former and present senators. A few others wore their military uniforms. Nestled amongst them was Commander D'Arcy, who looked as if she was holding back tears as the group of people shifted to receive Leia's coffin in the designated mausoleum space.

The junior senator cleared his throat. "If anyone has any eulogies to deliver, I recommend you keep it brief." He glanced around warily before he continued, "Otherwise we may proceed with the burial and commence our departure from this Mausoleum."

His words were met with silence. To Rey's and Poe's surprise, it was Commander D'Arcy who stepped up to say, "There is none. Senator, please proceed."

The mourners in attendance each placed a stalk of gingerbell on Leia's resting figure. No one said a word, but many looked at Leia's peaceful sleeping face with a teary smile, and that was probably enough to convey all they felt about the former Senator of Chandrila and Princess of Alderaan. Rey and Poe were the last to pay their respects - they were also the ones tasked to place the marble lid on her coffin. As Poe rejoined Commander D'Arcy who was exiting the space (presumably to express his dissatisfaction with her decision to do away with eulogies), Rey stayed behind to place a wreath over the coffin lid. Her fingers traced the carved emblem of Chandrila on the lid as she whispered her own goodbyes, "Thank you, Leia."

No sooner had she said it, she felt a presence she had thought she would never encounter again ever since she closed the door of the Millennium Falcon on Crait. She sighed. The Force can be such a bitch sometimes. Her hand slowly slid to the blaster she kept hidden near her waist as she looked up to glare at him.

Surprisingly, the attention of the new Supreme Leader of the First Order was not on her at all, but at the coffin beside her. Could he see it? She watched curiously as he moved as if to reach a hand out to touch the coffin, only for it to be clenched into a fist and returned firmly by his side. He stayed like that for a while, before he reluctantly laid his eyes on her.

Without meaning to, her mind touched his. Or he let her into his - their Force Bond has always worked in ways neither of them fully understood. Snoke's death changed nothing, even though he claimed to have been the one to bridge their minds. In that moment, Rey saw everything Kylo Ren had struggled for years to kill along with Ben Solo. She saw his raging darkness, she saw the flicker of his light, she felt the intensified confusion, sadness, loneliness and despair consuming and radiating from him.

She wanted to call out to him, but she hesitated: who was standing in front of her now? Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader of the First Order intent on wiping out the Resistance she had sided with? Or was it Ben Solo, mourning the passing of his mother?

Without breaking his eye contact with her, she saw his hand move to press a switch somewhere beside him. Before Rey could utter the name she had decided on, the door closed in her face, breaking their connection.


	2. Chapter 2

Too indecisive. Too much of that Force nonsense. Too naive. Too restrained. Too sentimental. Nothing to do with the First Order except being Snoke's stupid pet. _**Undeserving.**_

General Armitage Hux, officially second-in-command of The First Order, could rattle out a whole list of attributes he despised about the latest Supreme Leader. The last one was probably what irked him the most. In the present situation however, it seemed to receive strong contentions by a couple of the other traits. It took all his self-control to not expressly air his distaste for Ren's decision on what to do with Chandrila. Or more specifically, with the Resistance scum that were now convened on the planet. A mole he had planted on the planet had informed him that some of the more influential members of the Senate were willing to surrender the leftover Resistance to the Order, on the condition that Chandrila is recognized to be neutral in the emerging conflict. Hux trusted his mole; he didn't necessarily trust the Senate, especially of a planet known to be strongly Republican in its leanings all this while, and which gave birth to the New Republic.

As warranted by the chain of command, Hux conveyed the information to his superior, Ren. If they were to mobilize now, there might be a chance they would be in time to reach Chandrila, neutralize the Resistance and possibly the planet's capital as well. A direct attack on Chandrila would raze the confidence of the Republic remnants to the ground, making demands for a surrender more plausible.

Ren had dismissed his suggestion without actually listening to them. Or perhaps he did. Hux noticed a shadow on Ren's face upon hearing the words Resistance and Chandrila strung together in the same sentence. But the Supreme Leader returned to his usual mask of passive indifference (which he seemed to reward Hux more so than anyone else on the Finalizer with) as he shook his head and turned down the idea.

"But Supreme Leader," Hux insisted, his tone getting a bit more obtuse. He could barely hide his irritation. "Our enemies are clearly there. All we have to do is pick them off."

"If what your mole said is true, then Chandrila is not yet our enemy," Ren answered, clearly uninterested. "There is no need to attack a city which can be a future economic partner."

"Are we really thinking about that?" Hux sneered back.

Ren's response was to turn to the new member of the triumvirate on-board the First Order's new flagship, the Finalizer: Captain Peavey. He was formerly Hux's acting officer; following the death of Captain Phasma, Ren promoted Peavey to replace her position. He knew how much Peavey disliked Hux, and vice-versa - making Peavey a good choice as the third anchor in the new leadership. "Captain, what are your thoughts?"

Peavey glanced over quickly at Hux before turning back to Ren. "We are trying to rebuild after D'Qar. The damages done to the Supremacy cost too much. Not to mention the squadrons and ships that we've lost."

"Then it's settled then. We leave Chandrila alone." Ren eyed Hux carefully. "Any objections, General?"

Hux glowered, but wordlessly saluted Ren before he stomped away to return to the bridge. With the meeting dismissed, Kylo Ren got up to leave the room. Peavey leapt up from his seat to stand and salute the Supreme Leader, but the latter merely signaled to him to be at ease.

"In my absence, Captain Peavey, I appoint you acting officer," Kylo declared. They walked out of the room together. "General Hux will adhere to your orders. If he protests, tell him that the orders came from me."

Peavey frowned slightly at the Supreme Leader's words. "Pardon me for asking, Supreme Leader. But are you going away somewhere?"

"Yes. I am going to meet my Knights. I shan't be away for long. Have the hangar prepare my ship. I won't be needing escorts."

His acting officer bowed his head in acknowledgment. "As you wish, Supreme Leader."

* * *

The trip to Chandrila ended up taking a whole day. After leaving the mausoleum, Rey, Finn and Poe headed back to the Falcon whereas Commander D'Arcy requested for a bit more time to "work the senators". When the three of them reached their ship, they found their resident Wookie and Rey's co-pilot, Chewbacca, fixing up the Falcon, with assistance from Rose Tico. Rose couldn't understand anything Chewie said, but the Wookie didn't seem to take offense. In fact, he seemed to enjoy her company, which was probably less intrusive than the stray Porgs they have running around on board.

Rose's round face lit up the moment she saw Finn. The former Stormtrooper returned her grin with one of his own.

"What are the both of you up to? We just left you for a few hours!" Finn peered at what Chewie was servicing. The Wookie spoke as if to shoo him away. "Yeah okay I get it, I'll move away. Hey!"

Rey noticed the fuel tanks near the Falcon. "Did we get more fuel or something?"

"Yeah!" Rose answered enthusiastically, peering behind Chewie to talk to her. "Nien Nunb went looking for supplies, he got us some food and fuel as well. Should be enough to last us for some time." Her face clouded over with worry as she looked at Rey and then Finn. "Did everything go well in the city? The three of you were away for so long. And where's the Commander?"

Finn jumped in to answer, and the two budding lovebirds got caught up in their conversation. Rey took the chance to head back into the Falcon. Most of the Resistance had returned from wherever in Chandrila they went, and she said her hi and hellos to them before heading to the cockpit. With the exception of the droids, Finn, and Rose, all of the Resistance members took turns to pilot the Falcon. She and Chewie had flown them into Chandrila; Poe and Lieutenant Connick were assigned to fly them out.

She had expected the next flying team to already be in the cockpit. Lieutenant Connick was nowhere in sight, but Poe had already settled into the pilot seat. When he saw her, he waved her over.

"Care to fly this thing with me?" he asked with an easy grin.

Rey merely smiled as she shook her head. She settled into the seat at the back as she replied, "I team with Chewie."

"Chewie's really something, isn't he. I try my best but there are times I don't understand him. But I don't want to let him know."

Rey kept her smile even as she took out something from her bag. "I know he's a Wookie. But I think he'll appreciate it if you can pick up a bit of his language."

Poe chuckled at her retort, before noticing what she was twirling in her hands. She heard him sigh exasperatedly before he spoke again, "I'm always seeing you with that thing, day and night."

Rey held up the two broken pieces of the lightsaber, the remnants of an incident onboard the First Order's dreadnought Supremacy a few months back. "This? Yeah I know... I'm generally good at fixing things, but no matter what I do, I can't fix this." She gave a hollow laugh. "It's kind of strange to use a blaster nowadays. But this lightsaber just refuses to fix itself, no matter what I do."

Just then, Lieutenant Connick walked in, with Commander D'Arcy. Both women looked excited, so Rey and Poe figured out there must be some good news for the Resistance effort. They were not disappointed.

Most of the Senators in attendance at the funeral had affirmed their personal support for the Resistance's efforts. But almost none was able to step forward with firm assistance, especially since the Chandrila Senate was officially divided in the planet's commitment to the cause. Some of the senators, including the junior senator who had so irked Poe, commented that there is suspicion that First Order sympathizers have infiltrated the Senate house. Their decision to offer a funerary procession for Leia was an attempt to hold the Resistance on Chandrila long enough for the First Order to swoop in and detain them.

"But I managed to speak with the former Chancellor Mon Mothma," Commander D'Arcy continued with a fond smile. "A good friend of Leia... I trust her as I would trust Leia. Mon Mothma is of course too old and too ill to join us in our fight. But believe it or not, she has a squadron on standby, in the event that Leia ever needed help and the Republic is too cowardly to act."

Poe raised an eyebrow at the revelation. "And where are we to find this secret squadron?"

Lieutenant Connick had already gone to key in the coordinates while Commander D'Arcy spoke. She turned to look at Poe from her co-pilot seat, "You'll see."

* * *

It was a long flight to the Outer Rim, but he felt like he needed to be here on this planet. He had parked his ship at the entrance of the imposing tower, and was glad he did. The air was terrible, and the heat... But what would he expect from a planet made of lava waterways and volcanic rocks? Everytime he heard the lava crash against the rocks, he shuddered. Then his mind would replay what he had seen in his dream. From the second time he had the dream, he did some research, looked through the imperial archives. Eventually he located a scene in his dream to be the raging planet of Mustafar. He took it as a sign.

Thank you, Grandfather... He silently thanked as he walked into the foreboding obsidian structure once known to be the private castle of Darth Vader.

It felt surreal to be in the castle grounds. He had only heard of it, of how Vader built it himself on the site of his greatest defeat. He glanced up at the remains of the two forked towers jutting out from the castle. It was said that they tune the Dark side of the Force. He had brought along the charred remains of Vader's helmet with him. Perhaps here he could once again commune with his grandfather, at the site where he was the strongest.

He walked into the castle with a sense of trepidation. Dark energy circulated within the castle's walls, he could feel it. He should be exuberant, to be in the proximity of so much darkness that could resolve his conflict once and for all. Instead the conflict in him churned even more. He wanted to embrace the energy, but he felt himself resisting it.

He stood in the middle of the empty reception hall, all its furniture (if there was any) now invariably looted, destroyed or fed to the lava that nourished the planet. What a shame. He set down Vader's helmet remains on the floor. Since he returned to the Finalizer, he had continuously implored the mask, to show him again the path he needed to take. But there was nothing. Perhaps here the relic could be replenished, and he could find the answer he seek.

He sensed new presence behind him. Turning around, he came face to face with two masked figures. One of them proceeded to remove its mask, revealing the face of a young woman framed by a shock of auburn hair. He watched as she shrugged apologetically, "The others are not as keen to have an audience with you." She eyed him carefully. "They're displeased at your failure to protect Supreme Leader Snoke... And your new rank."

"I can imagine," he replied simply. His gaze left hers to focus on the other person behind her. "Caedus."

The masked figure nodded to him respectfully, but said nothing. The young woman gave the masked man a reassuring smile before she remarked to the one who had summoned them, gesturing to their surroundings, "You've chosen a very interesting place to meet us. Anyway Kylo, as you requested." She held out a small urn in one hand. "The ashes of Han Solo." Her other gloved palm revealed the broken shards of a blue crystal. "The only remnants I could find of that lightsaber on the Supremacy."

Kylo picked one of the crystal shards up to examine it. To his and his guests' surprise, it began to glow with a soft blue light.

"It's calling out to you," the woman said, bemused. "I see now why you asked for it. But the ashes? A new prized collection?"

"I have my own uses for it," Kylo answered cautiously.

The woman didn't look convinced, but she decided not to press the matter further. "If you say so. In any case, Kylo, Caedus and I request our leave. Other things are waiting for us to collect them. Relics, resources... children..."

Kylo's soft answer surprised her. "No more, Caerra."

Caerra frowned. "What do you mean?"

"No more children," Kylo repeated himself. Caerra thought she detected the barest trace of a tremor in his voice as he said those words. "The First Order military will rebuild itself, but there is no more need for children to be taken into the system."

Caerra and Caedus looked at each other. Caedus signaled something to her, and she duly directed it back to the Supreme Leader of the First Order. "You've gone soft, Kylo Ren."

There was no contempt or malice in her voice. If anything, she (and Caedus) sounded relieved, but also genuinely surprised. She walked up to him and peered up at his face. Kylo shifted uncomfortably.

Caerra shrugged as she took a step back, preparing to leave. When she spoke again, her voice was strong but kind. "Kylo, Caedus and I are Acquisitors. Insignificant amongst the Knights of Ren. Whether or not you are with or against the Order is of no concern to us." She paused before bringing the reality of the situation back to him. "But the others are Snoke's Shadow Assassins. They're already doubting your story about Snoke's death. They wouldn't take to you with as much magnanimity."

"Your loyalty, and Caedus's, are enough for me," Kylo responded to her calmly. Caerra and Caedus bowed, and then headed back onto their ship. Kylo waited for their ship to fly into Mustafar's sky and into hyperspace before turning his attention back to his latest acquisition.

He must have been too caught up with what Caerra had told him to not have noticed what was happening. The Kyber crystal shards in his hand were glowing. No, it wasn't just glowing, it was vibrating, as if reacting towards something. His eyes ticked over towards Vader's helmet still on the ground, and he saw that it too was vibrating. Could it be...?

He knelt down to reach out for the helmet. Both the helmet and crystal shards vibrated even more violently as they came closer to one another. Kylo's eyes suddenly widened as he realized that he was wrong. The helmet and crystals weren't synergizing their energies; they were resisting, trying to destroy each other. The next thing he saw was a bright light, and a blast sent him reeling out of the castle towards his ship.


	3. Chapter 3

Hux relished every single opportunity where the new Supreme Leader made himself absent from the Finalizer. As second-in-command, with Ren gone, this effectively meant he was the chief on board. Supreme Leader Armitage Hux. That should have been his title. He was born for it. The Finalizer was _**his** _ship to command. Instead some weak-willed man-child snatched the throne from him. Hux was still bitter everytime he recalled the moment he had reluctantly acquiesced the title to Ren. But one tends to do that when they were being Force-Choked.

Ren must have thought himself very clever. He didn't just appoint Peavey to be the new member of their triumvirate; he always made that old man his acting officer. Hux snorted. Of course he knew Peavey disliked him. But he also knew that Peavey only dared to challenge him when Ren was around. Hux resented all of this, but he let it slide. After all, Peavey openly disagreeing with him made for good theatrics, enough to mislead Ren into thinking he had the First Order under control.

Ever since Peavey informed him that Ren took his ship to meet those cultish Knights of his, Hux had entertained the idea of firing against that obnoxious TIE fighter upon its return. Preferably before it could even make its way into the Finalizer's landing docks. But no. He must be patient. Getting rid of Ren required some degree of delicacy.

Fortunately for him, he had acted on his plan as early as that inopportune moment when he discovered that Snoke was murdered in his throne room. Ren had told him that that scavenger girl had done all of the damage, including knocking him unconscious. On top of being an undeserving heir to Supreme Leader Snoke, Ren was also a terrible liar. Everytime he lied, it showed on his face. Hux kept that thought in mind throughout Crait. When things had settled down, he requested a secret inquiry to look into what had gone down on the Supremacy that fateful day. His loyalists within the security division managed to salvage hologram footage of key places on board the dreadnought. He had watched the tapes in hopes of finding some incriminating evidence. Those tapes, unknown to Ren, were safely locked up in Hux's chambers, awaiting the perfect moment to be revealed.

From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Peavey approaching the bridge. He called out to him, "I hope you enjoy playing acting officer, Captain Peavey."

The older man regarded him with a salute. "General Hux. There's been some news."

Hux turned to his former subordinate, now his hierarchical equal. "Oh? What may that be?"

 _Did Ren die on his way back?_ was on the tip of his tongue, but Hux bit back on it.

Peavey held out a holopad. Hux took it, frowning as he swiped through them. "Offers to form an Alliance with the Order. But what am I to do with these, Captain Peavey? Sign on them? Imagine what your Supreme Leader would say if I were to ratify these without his knowledge."

"I had already sent them to the Supreme Leader," Peavey replied with a straight face. "I thought I should just inform you, so there'll be no surprises."

Hux's lip curled in disgust as he returned the holopad to Peavey. He would have to find a way to deal with him one day. For now, he opted to change the subject. "I understand the new batch of Stormtroopers have just arrived. Very timely of them to graduate just when we need to revive our units."

Peavey peered down at the training docks through the glass of the bridge. "Yes, indeed. They have yet to complete their advanced training, but I dare say they are proficient enough to be sent for missions if the need arises. Plus, if the Acquisitors are on schedule, the Academy should be preparing to receive a new batch as well. Granted, they're older than what we usually handle, but we don't have the luxury to wait fifteen years to rebuild."

"Who knows, maybe we don't even have fifteen days," Hux responded with a shrug.

Peavey gave him a perplexed look, so Hux continued. "Ah of course, before your rise to prominence, you weren't privy to many things. But I recall the numerous times he and I had a meeting with Supreme Leader Snoke, and Ren was rather insistent on doing away with human troopers. He thinks there's no more need for them if we have clones." He made sure to look at Peavey from the corner of his eye as he added, "I worry for the future of our men in the event he finds them to be...no longer relevant for his vision of the First Order."

"...I have faith in the future of the Order. Excuse me, General," Peavey answered curtly.

Hux smiled in amusement as Peavey walked away to head down to meet the new Stormtroopers. So easy to toy with him, he thought. Peavey might be many things, but he was an old guard of the Empire, who fervently believed in the superiority of programmed humans over clones. Something that Hux's own father, poor dead Brendol Hux, held on to when he led Arkanis Academy. [1] Just the mention of clones itself was an abomination to Peavey.

He watched as Peavey began to address the new Stormtrooper units. Hux thought for a while, then made his way towards them. New recruits, same resilient programming. It wouldn't hurt to inject into them some psychological upgrade.

* * *

Not for the first time since joining the Resistance (informally?), Rey felt utterly alone. Of course, this wasn't to say that Poe and the rest of the team didn't try to make her feel as if she belonged. They had been wonderfully kind to her. But there was always an air of formality and the distance that came with it. On numerous occasions, the Resistance officers would be discussing strategies or making inside references, and she would be lost. Initially Finn too found himself a bit out of the loop, but eventually he fitted in quite well, with his Stormtrooper military background coming in handy for him to be converted to a lieutenant. Even Chewie, as she found out, was no stranger to these sort of discussions. As for her? There were only so many times she could keep asking for explanations without feeling as if she was more an interruption than assistance.

The loneliness felt worse now. From Chandrila, they had flown all the way to the far reaches of the Outer Rim to land at the subarctic desert of Daxam IV. The allies that Mon Mothma promised turned out to be the very elite Pamarthe Resistance squadron led by Captain Aslik Sallaros, who was as elitist in his personality as his vocation. [2] He was more than pleased to meet the Resistance, but had insisted on meeting ranked officers only. Despite Poe's and Finn's attempts to dissuade him otherwise, he refused to relent.

"Nobodies are strictly not allowed into the hidden airbase."

It hurt, but when Rey waved her friends off, she put up a cheerful front and assured them that she didn't mind staying behind on the Falcon; after all, someone needed to be in the ship in the event of any emergency. As for the droids, BB-8 tagged along with the Resistance officers, while C3P0 and R2D2 remained on board. She liked R2D2, and wouldn't have minded fixing things on the Falcon with the droid by her side, but C3P0 liked to enter into arguments with him. Rey found it best to let the two droids bicker rather than try to stop them.

Instead, she settled in the cockpit and contented herself with a view of Daxam IV's tundras. She was told by Poe along the way that it was a desert, so she had expected it to be something like Jakku, just its inverse. Whereas Jakku was hot sun and endless sand dunes, Daxam IV was extremely cold, filled with snow and ice. Rey wondered where amidst all of this the Pamarthe Resistance kept their fleet, especially since Daxam IV was (according to Poe) apparently teeming with crime syndicates that sprung up after the collapse of the Centrist coalition. [3] It seemed impossible to operate on the planet without an arrangement with at least one of the syndicates.

But seeing the endless sheets of snow and ice also reminded her of other things, other encounters... Starkiller Base, for example. It wasn't a particularly pleasant memory, but it was where everything started, where she wielded a lightsaber for the first time and began to understand the flows of the Force. It was the site of her first battle. No girl would forget an incident like that... nor could she forget her rival.

Rey had tried to keep him off her mind since 'running into him' at Chandrila. But now, the expression on his face resurfaced in her memory. It was a face conflicted by sadness. She wished she could laugh at the absurdity of it, that his conflict was because he wasn't sure if he ought to feel sad at his mother's passing. But in that moment when their eyes met, she had understood. Which was why she was initially uncertain how to call out to him...

Shaking her head, Rey got up from the cockpit seat. She can't be mulling over something like this. There were other things she needed to do. She headed into the sleeping quarters and pulled out her bag. She had been studying the Jedi texts on her own where possible. Much of it was philosophical, and in all honesty, without a teacher, it was a struggle.

As for constructing lightsabers, unfortunately, the Jedi texts made scant mention. They told her that the source of power rested in the kyber crystals, which were a part of the wielder as it was a part of the Force. Crystals choose and call out to their owner rather than the other way round. The texts reminded her that crystals were sentient objects, and ought to be revered and treasured as life itself. But that was about it. No mention on the mechanical workings of lightsabers.

Rey sighed as she once again held up the broken halves of the Skywalker lightsaber. To be honest, by now she had an idea how its mechanics work. She had even thought of constructing a new one, perhaps something that can give her the same feel and the same wield as her quarterstaff. But for some strange reason, she sensed that the crystal was refusing to budge from its existing host. Maybe crystals have attachment issues, too. Who knows. But that definitely wasn't going to stop her from trying to disassemble the lightsaber until she succeeded.

She shifted to sit on the floor so she could use the bed as her makeshift working table. "Battery cell, switch... yeah okay, let's try to remove the crystal from the casing today... are you stubborn today... Oh?"

To her surprise, the crystal was more pliant today, it actually slid out of the casing without any resistant. Rey looked at the crystal in her hand and grinned. She had a good feeling about this.

* * *

Chapter notes:

[1] Dead at the hands of General Hux and Captain Phasma, who teamed up to assassinate him.

[2] Pamarthe was a planet located in the Outer Rim territories, well-known for its pilots. It was also close to Daxam, so according to the SW universe, many Pamarthens sought jobs on the subarctic planet.

[3] Daxam IV was a member of the New Republic and belonged to the Centrist faction. Many Centrists liked the Empire/pre-fans of the First Order due to their preference for stronger galactic government and stronger military. The New Republic under Mon Mothma's chancellorship had favoured decentralization and greatly reduced military spending. A great scandal came to light when it was discovered that Daxam IV's Amaxine warriors, Rinnrivin Di's cartel, and Lady Carise Sindian were involved in a scheme which saw to money diverted to support the building up of the First Order.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:**

 **Thank you so much everyone for the comments, kudos and support! Please keep the feedback coming, I really appreciate them.**

 **This is a Kylo-centred chapter, where we'll discover what he saw in Mustafar. (Also moving forward, would you like to see Ben Solo's calligraphy set make a cameo? Let me know!)**

 **\- Althea_Draxus**

* * *

 _The first thing he saw when he came to was the rubble of black obsidian. His eyes widened in horror as he began to register what had happened._

 _"No... no!"_

 _He immediately leapt up to his feet to rush towards the ruins, to at least retrieve what he could. But the words he then heard stopped him in his tracks:_

 _"No, stop."_

 _The voice was soft, but stern. Deep down, he felt as if he recognized it, even if it had first came to him in a different form. He cast a long glance at the castle ruins, which had begun to disintegrate even further where the rivers and streams of Mustafar permeated. Vader's sanctuary. His helmet. Traces of the man he revered. Everything that had signified Darth Vader was being consumed by the hot molten lava to be reduced to nothingness._

 _"Let it go, Ben. It is not what you need."_

 _This time he turned to face the owner of the voice. It belonged to a young man, not too far off in terms of age from him. In fact, much of the man's appearance resembled him. His hair. A light scar running along his right temple. His eyes. The man wore a sorrowful expression, but it was hard to tell to whom or what it was directed._

 _This man was not the figure he was looking for. He was not the one he had been imploring to appear in front of him. But Kylo knew who he was looking at. He could feel it._

 _The man too clearly shared the same awareness. When he spoke, it carried a certain affection, "Ben."_

"REN."

The forceful way his name was said snapped him out of his thoughts. He glanced up to see General Hux give him a withering look. Kylo said nothing, but signaled to his second-in-command to continue.

"As I was saying, our engineers have submitted a design proposal for a weapon -"

 _His weapon came to life, and Kylo pointed the crackling blade of his lightsaber at the man. There was no intent to strike, however, and the man knew this. He regarded Kylo with a half-smile._

 _Kylo wasn't as amused. "Why? This was where you were strongest. Why destroy them?"_

 _"Because now I finally can. You brought my two sides together, and I have completed my choice. Ben, this is not your path to take."_

 _"No, you are wrong," Kylo countered. "This is the path I must take. To succeed where you failed."_

 _"That was what you were made to believe. But ask yourself - is it what you truly believe? Is it what you are truly struggling with? All this while you've asked for guidance, Ben. This is my answer to you."_

 _The man held out the blue crystal shards towards the crackling red blade. Kylo watched on in confusion as his lightsaber's blade calmed down. The vents on either side of his cross guard dissipated. Instead, his lightsaber now glowed in a steady, singular beam of light, blue and red dancing within._

 _"Learn to forgive, Ben Solo. Not just those who have hurt you, but also yourself. That's the only way your conflict can end."_

"-positive we can end the Resis..." Hux trailed off mid-sentence as it occurred to him that all his explanations for the past few minutes were for nothing. He cleared his throat as loudly as possible. "Supreme Leader. _Supreme Leader_."

That finally got Kylo's attention. But it was clear that his attention was elsewhere. In fact, it had never been in the meeting room from the start. Hux could barely conceal his annoyance. "Is the Supreme Leader not up to the task today?"

To his surprise, Kylo stood up and answered wearily, "General, we'll do this tomorrow, first thing in the morning. I am not to be disturbed for anything until then. Can I trust you to oversee things for today, General?"

Hux's eyebrows shot up at the word 'trust'. But maintaining a tone as stiff and impassionate as ever, he answered, "But of course, Supreme Leader."

Kylo didn't wait for him to finish his sentence before he strode out of the meeting room. Along the corridors, a couple of Stormtroopers greeted him. Those who were more courageous extended him a "Good evening, Supreme Leader". But the others were content to just salute him wordlessly. His relationship with them was largely indifferent. He knew that the ranks had their own factions. When Phasma was still around, many preferred to place their loyalty in her over Hux. Now with Peavey part of the triumvirate, it was more likely there already was a tussle between him and Hux for the troops' choice of preferred leader. Kylo knew eventually he would have to pay more attention to such developments, but for now he had other things to concern himself with.

Once he entered his chambers, the doors slid close behind him. Kylo tugged to remove his gloves as he walked over to his desk. His half-disassembled lightsaber and its components were laid out on the working surface. Whatever he had seen in Mustafar refused to leave his mind. Upon landing on the Finalizer, he intended to spend time merging his cracked Kyber with the blue crystal shards Caerra had presented to him. Unfortunately, he barely started when Hux interrupted him earlier for that pointless meeting. Kylo was determined to complete his project this time.

He picked up the crystal shards again. Everything that had happened on Mustafar was its doing. Casting him out of Vader's castle and then bringing it down to ruins before his eyes. Shattering his prized Vader relic. He was furious when it happened, but on hindsight, it was incredibly fascinating how the crystal reacted so strongly - no, Kylo corrected himself. How the crystal overpowered everything that had been emblematic of Vader and destroyed them. The phenomenon seemed to defy everything Kylo thought he knew about the way crystals worked.

As a teenager, he was taught that Kyber crystals sing for their owner a melody only he or she could hear. When he first held his, he understood why it was said that they were sentient objects who attached themselves to the souls of their wielder. Nothing was more beautiful than when a crystal and its wielder worked in perfect harmony. When put in a lightsaber, movements become more fluid, lighter, more elegant.

When he grew a bit older, he discovered that crystals could bleed, and when they do, they cry in agony - a cry that would be seared into the wielder's very soul. Usually a bleeding crystal would surrender to the will of its owner and evolve to be a smooth red crystal. Certain crystals might put up greater resistance, especially if they sense an equally strong resistance in its wielder. They would eventually turn red, of course, but end up cracked. Such crystals were highly unstable. Always threatening to strike back at its wielder who had betrayed it. Kylo ended up having to build his lightsaber with a cross guard to protect himself against his.

What he was shown in Mustafar seemed to be something unheard of in lightsabers lore. He had heard of healed crystals, but not of merged ones. It didn't seem possible, to meld a bled crystal with an untainted one. Theoretically, they would reject each other. If not, they would reject its wielder.

But as he held the crystals in his palms, he could sense them being at synergy with one another. He had thought of using the Force to meld them together, but the crystals seemed to be telling him not to. Even as separate pieces, he could hear their song. How curious. Both the red and blue ones sang to him. He listened more attentively. They actually produced a new song.

Kylo had removed the cross guard from the first quarter section of his light saber. After he slotted the crystals in, he finished the assembly with an old hilt that he once used, when his crystal still emitted a steady blue light. If indeed what was shown to him in Mustafar was true, he needed to test a theory out.

He held out his adjusted lightsaber an arm's length away from him. He took a deep breath, and activated it. At that moment, it felt like everything about it had been renewed. The laser blade came to life with more exuberance, and it was no longer crackling. Instead it was a steady beam of marbled red and blue light. If it was entirely possible, Kylo felt as if his crystal's newfound harmony had made his lightsaber lighter in his hand.

Kylo swished it about in the air. He had had to adjust the way he wielded his lightsaber after he added on the cross guard. He had focused on strong, blunt strokes. He knew his style wasn't particularly elegant, but he also didn't really care. His fighting style needed to complement his lightsaber, not the other way round. But with this new blade and the absence of a cross guard, Kylo found that he could move more deftly, manouevre more easily... And cut down with more certainty.

"Beautiful," he murmured, still transfixed at the way his lightsaber was glowing.

As if in response, a voice belonging to a little girl floated into his ear. She was sobbing, "No. Don't go."

Kylo looked around his room. As spacious as it was, he was certain that no little girl would be hiding in it. In fact, if there was a little girl on board the First Order flagship, his Stormtroopers would have a lot of explaining to do.

He heard the voice again: "Where?"

But this time it sounded more older... And familiar. Too familiar. Kylo whirled around trying to look for the source of the voice. He would recognize it anywhere. It was the voice that had broken through his loneliness.

Was the Force acting like some sort of providence? Kylo had no idea. But it might as well be. Kylo remained where he stood as someone materialized into view. She must have fallen asleep while working on something, at a working station perhaps. But in his room, she appeared with her head resting on her arms at his desk.

Rey.

Tentatively, Kylo approached her. The words that he heard on Mustafar suddenly rang through his mind: _Learn to forgive, Ben Solo_. But as he gazed at her sleeping face, Kylo realized that despite everything that had happened, he never once felt that there was anything he needed to forgive her for. Not for defeating him on Starkiller Base, not for the scar on his face. Not even for turning him down and then turning against him on the Supremacy.

This wasn't the first time he observed her unconscious. Ironically, the first time too happened on board this ship, the Finalizer. Back then he carried her in from Takodana, and waited patiently until she woke up so he could extricate the map fragments from her. Maybe an hour passed. Or two. Did it matter? Just like that time, even now he admitted to himself: he _liked_ looking at her. There was something charming about her features. She was so fiery when awake. But watching her sleep, at times he was envious how deeply she could do so.

It was then that he noticed she wasn't sleeping as peacefully as he supposed. Deep lines creased her forehead. Kylo frowned. Was she having a bad dream? Kylo inched closer. In the faint light of his room, he noticed that her cheeks were wet.

"No..." Rey mumbled, clearly distressed at whatever she was seeing in her dreams. "Don't go..."

Kylo stared at Rey who was still caught up in her dreams. For a brief second, he thought of touching her forehead to peer into what she was seeing, but decided against it. She would be furious if she found out. Kylo wasn't sure if he wanted to deal with that. He moved to leave.

Rey however was as adamant in her dreams; one of her hands reached out to clutch at the ends of his robes. "Don't go... Ben..."

Kylo froze. Was she dreaming... of him? He tried to step away, but Rey only tightened her grip. He glanced around and spotted another chair closer to his bed. A subtle flick of his wrist and it slid up nicely to him.

Careful not to make any sudden movements that might wake her up, Kylo sat down quietly beside her, and waited.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: hello, thank you so much for the follows and reviews!**

 **There are some other sequel-related references I slipped into this chapter. Please consider this the first Reylo-related chapter in this fic ;)**

 **Hope you'll enjoy it!**

 **\- althea_draxus**

* * *

She was back in the hallway, the one that she had seen in Maz Kanata's basement. It was exactly as she remembered, the arches and the lights. She was terrified the first time it happened, but not anymore. She knew what she would see. There, in the distance would be Cloud City -

Rey froze. The scene she had expected wasn't there. She should have seen it if she turned this way. But where the scene should have been, it was just an endless row of lit arches. Rey took a few steps back, and turned to head the other way.

The strange boy was there at the other end of the hallway, just like in her first vision. But she could see him more clearly this time. He looked to be around twelve, tall for his age. He had the blackest hair she had ever seen.

Rey slowly made her way towards him. "Hello?"

His eyes widened in fear, and he retreated. Rey hurriedly called out, "Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you."

The boy hesitated, but returned Rey's gaze. His eyes were oddly familiar. Where had she seen them before?

She never had the chance to ask, because all of a sudden she found herself in a forest. She looked around for the boy, but he was gone. Rey walked on a bit more, before she realized that the sounds raging in the distance was that of battle. She looked up and saw one after another TIE fighters swooping in, firing at their target. _Takodana_ , she realized. If this was Takodana, then it was just a matter of time.

Rey didn't have to wait long. In that moment, a cloaked figure with a metal mask appeared in front of her, a crackling red lightsaber in his right hand. She drew in a deep, shaky breath. In their first encounter, she was filled with fear. Not anymore. It was as if she could now tap into his emotions flowing through the forest clearing where they currently were. She had anticipated a rush of pride, intent to hurt, malice... but all she encountered was a feeling of deep curiosity and amazement. Was this what he had felt when they met?

He made his way towards her, but no sooner had he reached her, Rey found herself no longer in the forest but shivering in a cave. She was face-to-face with a cave mirror, the one she had seen on Ach-To. She had gazed into it earnestly, hoping that it would show her her parents. She still remembered the answer that she found reflected back at her. She didn't want to be reminded of it again. Rey moved to leave, but then she heard Maz's words on Takodana: "The belonging you seek is ahead."

The surface of the cave mirror rippled. In spite of herself, Rey turned to look at it. It's showing her something different... a clearer silhouette? It looked to be a man. Rey inched closer towards the mirror, hoping to see it more clearly. She ended up staring into the same pair of brown eyes she had seen at the beginning. She stumbled backwards in shock.

She had expected to land on the cold, hard surface of the cave. Instead, she felt the earth. Glancing down, she saw that her hand was clutching at snow. Rey looked around to find herself surrounded by dark slender trees. This place again. She heard the sounds of fighting not too far away from her. Somewhere ahead. But it was the voice that she remembered would come from behind her that mattered the most.

"Stay here. I'll come back for you."

By now, she would recognize it anywhere. It was calm, soft, compassionate.

She didn't want to turn around. She was afraid to see once again that the person wouldn't be there. Instead, she pleaded, "Don't go."

But the voice that answered her now sounded further from her: "I'll come back, I promise."

"No, don't go! Don't go!" Rey turned around, desperately searching for where the owner of the voice might have gone. She ran ahead, through the trees. It was dark, but her feet seemed to know where she needed to go towards. The closer she got where she needed to be, the more she was overcome by an inexplicable, overwhelming sadness. Rey felt like her heart could explode from the pain.

When she finally stopped, she knew that it meant she was where she needed to be. Rey dropped to her knees and found herself sobbing at the sight before her. "No... no..."

She cradled someone's head, resting it on her lap. Her hands desperately caressed the person's face, hair, lips, willing the person to wake up.

"Don't leave me like this. You _can't_ leave me like this," Rey begged. She was now sobbing into the person's chest. "Come back. Please. Don't go... _Ben_."

Rey was so surprised at herself for uttering the name, she looked up, even if she was still in tears. Once again, her scenery had changed. She had never seen this place before. The snowy forest had given way to a room lined with sleek black and silver panels. The person who had lain dead in front of her was now a black desk, with what seemed like lightsaber parts strewn across it. And she was clutching on to something - or someone's sleeve for that matter.

She turned to see Ben seated quietly next to her, leaned back against the desk. His eyes were closed. Seeing him next to her brought her sobs to an end. She removed her hand from his sleeve and hesitantly reached out to touch his face. Her thumb gently traced the scar she had left him. She whispered, "It was you. It's always been you."

A pair of confused dark eyes suddenly met hers. "What do you mean?"

His response felt so real. Rey frowned. She drew her hand back and pinched herself. "Ow!"

It _hurt._ She wasn't dreaming. Or at least, not anymore. Which meant that when she touched his face earlier... Rey suddenly felt her face heating up.

Ben Solo simply stared at her, still perplexed.

She quickly looked away. That was when she realized not only wasn't she dreaming, she sure as hell wasn't on the Falcon. Instead she was in a spacious room, tastefully minimalist in its design, black furniture complemented by grey metal accents. In an attempt to cover up her embarrassment, Rey glanced about at her surroundings, observing as much as she could. For a moment, she wondered if she had been here before. The lights and consoles seemed familiar.

"What is this place?" Rey asked. "How did I get here?"

"I'd like to know that too," he answered flatly. "Wait, place?" He finally caught on to her words. It was his turn to look around and behind him. "You can see my surroundings?" He tried to look at what was behind her, expecting to see the nothing he had always seen in their Force Bridge sessions. But his private quarters was a solid vision behind her. His frown deepened upon realizing something. "You're physically here."

Rey turned to look at him incredulously. "What? No, that's impossible."

"Try picking up something from my desk," he suggested, clearly fascinated by this sudden twist in their Force Bridge.

Rey laughed as she reached a hand out to pick a random object up. "See? I can't tou - wait, what?"

It turned out she had randomly picked up a wooden box, but her hand didn't pass through it as expected.

Rey could swear Ben's lips pulled for the smallest fraction of a second into an amused smile. He got up from his seat and headed to a corner of his chambers that looked like a kitchenette. He came back with two glasses and a small pitcher of water. Rey watched him wordlessly as he poured water into each of the glasses, and set one at each end of the small black octagon block that was his coffee table.

Ben gestured at the empty seat across him. "Won't you? Or would you prefer caf?"

"Caf?"

He looked at her for a while. "You've never had caf before." He was being honest, without any intention to belittle her, but still Rey could feel her cheeks flushing again at the words. Ben must have noticed, because he quickly said, "No.. You just had a bad dream. You shouldn't be drinking caf. I'll fix you something else."

Bad dream? How long had she been here? Rey wanted to ask, but then her attention was diverted to the sight of Ben in his kitchenette. Somehow he had put a kettle on and took out a black lacquer box from a cabinet. It didn't take long for the water to be boiled, and soon he returned to where Rey was seated with both kettle and box.

"I never knew hospitality was a strong suit of yours," Rey commented dryly.

"You're a guest, I have to be a genial host." He opened up the black lacquer box to reveal rows of pyramid silk sachet filled with dried leaves and flowers. "Have your pick."

Rey randomly chose one. "You're the Supreme Leader, shouldn't you have droids to do this sort of thing for you?"

Ben's eyes clouded slightly. "I... don't like droids." He dropped the sachet into the kettle and then closed the lid. "It'll take a few minutes to steep."

"Oh, okay."

Silence. Rey fidgeted in her seat slightly. She peeked at Ben who was seated across her. It didn't look like he would say anything. Or to be more precise, there was something he wanted to ask but for some reason he was holding himself back.

She had to say something.

Rey held out the wooden box she retrieved from his desk earlier. "This doesn't look like it matches the aesthetics of your room."

"It's wood."

 _Yes I know that,_ Rey thought irritably. She pressed on, "What's inside?"

Ben hesitated for a while, considering whether to divulge the contents to her. Eventually he sighed and mumbled, "My calligraphy set."

"Calligraphy?"

He raised his eyes to meet hers. "Do you know what it is?"

When she said nothing, he took the box from her and set it on the table. He lifted the lid to reveal rolls of parchment, a pen and an ink pot inside. "You use these to write. Although hardly anyone writes this way nowadays."

"So why do you still have it?"

Ben said nothing. He took out the pen and ink pot. Rey's eyes followed his hand as he dipped the pen into the ink pot. He held it out to her. "Try it."

"I... I don't know how to," Rey admitted with a blush.

She had expected him to smirk at her. Instead, he shifted his chair so it was easy for him to demonstrate to her how to hold and use a pen. The tip of the pen danced across the surface of the parchment, and soon the letters appeared: n.

"Try it."

He was insistent. Rey took the pen from it and tried to press the tip down on the parchment. She must have pressed too hard, because what came out was a blob of ink.

"You'll destroy the pen that way." If it was an admonishment, it didn't sound like it. Ben cautiously held her hand, guiding her to lift it up at a higher angle. And then he let go. "Try again."

This time round, the ink flowed from the pen in slender strokes. Rey carefully spelled out her name below what he had written.

"This is rather pleasant," she commented with a shy smile. "I can see why you'd enjoy this."

Ben averted his eyes. "This connection is lasting longer than what we're used to," he said quickly.

Rey slowly put the pen down. She returned her hands to her lap as she replied, "Yeah."

Did he want her to leave? She didn't dare ask. So she said instead, "I should go back." But how?

He provided her the answer. "You...materialized while you were asleep."

Rey nodded. "So I suppose I should go back the same way."

"It doesn't seem like our connection this time round will be broken on its own," Ben agreed. He stood up and walked over to another part of his chamber. He pressed a button on the wall panel. A door slid open to reveal what seemed to be his darkened bedroom. Rey saw the silhouette of a large bed that was more than enough to fit two persons. "You're welcome to use it. You can adjust the lights if...the dark is too terrifying for you."

Rey braved herself to look at his face. He wasn't looking at her. That's a good thing. "What about you?"

Ben gestured to another end of his chamber. The door to it was already open. Rey caught sight of a small alcove. "I'll be in my meditation room."

"O-okay."

He stood quietly as Rey walked over to his sleeping quarters. Once she was inside, he moved to leave. Before Rey could close the door behind him, he turned around to look at her.

"Rey."

 _It's his eyes_ , Rey realized. She barely realized that her breath was caught in her throat, or that she had inched forward. They were mesmerizing. It felt like they contained the galaxy's secrets within them. For that moment Rey didn't care if her thoughts were visible to him.

"If it's what you want, I won't ever leave you." His voice was quiet. Soft. Compassionate. He took a step back and inclined his head slightly. "Good night, Rey."


	6. Chapter 6

The bed was too comfortable, too luxurious for her to fall asleep. Not to mention that it wasn't hers, a fact she was only too aware of. Initially Rey had hesitantly sat on the bed, suddenly nervous to be left alone in the most private section of his chamber. But when she recalled that she needed to get back to the Falcon, she cast aside her reservations and climbed onto the large, inviting bed.

She must have lain there forever. Rey had lost count how many times she willed her eyes to close and her consciousness to drift away, hoping to open her eyes and see the sleeping quarters of the Falcon instead. Needless to say, she failed miserably. Was the Force refusing to let her leave?

"If it's what you want, I won't ever leave you."

His words kept ringing in her mind. Rey shivered. He had looked at her straight in the eye when he uttered them, and Rey detected nothing but sincerity in his voice. If it was what she wanted? Rey knew he knew what was it she wanted. She just didn't know if he would acquiesce.

Kylo - no, Ben Solo - was as fascinating as he was confusing. Sometimes he came across as someone so sure of himself and his strength in the Force. Even Luke acknowledged the raw power residing in his nephew.

But Rey also saw in Ben someone who was always struggling with fear. So much fear. Even after Snoke's death, and his rise to the rank of Supreme Leader, those fears did not go away. Rey could feel it in him. She could also sense who he was most afraid of: himself.

It was one thing to live being feared by others. But how must he have felt, living in fear of himself?

Rey gently pushed the covers aside. Sleep was hopeless at this point. She had too much of him in her head. Being in his bed surrounded by his pillows and covers only made it worse.

She clambered out of bed to head for the door. It hissed open, and she stuck her head out. "Ben?"

No one. His common area was dark and empty, save for the lamp he had left on at his desk. The door to his meditation alcove was open, but it didn't seem like he was in it. Had he gone elsewhere?

Rey wandered over to his desk. He must have cleaned it up while she was 'sleeping'. The lightsaber parts were mostly gone, except for the cross guard piece. Rey found it strange. Didn't it belong to his lightsaber? Perhaps due to a combination of habit and curiosity, she picked it up, intending to ask him about it later.

It seemed that Ben had returned his calligraphy box to its original location. It now also acted as a paperweight for the parchment that had their names on it. Kylo Ren. Rey. She carefully opened the lid of the box and took out an inked pen. She crossed out a name, and amended the other.

Ben Solo

Rey

Below his name, hers looked... Well, like it could belong anywhere and nowhere. No family. No clan. Just... Rey. Just her. She couldn't even remember if she had a last name. Maybe she had never wanted to keep it. Just like how she had never wanted to remember the truth about her parents, until someone forced her to on the Supremacy. Rey grimaced slightly at that memory.

Back then, she couldn't understand why Ben was so insistent to make her say it out. A few months later, during one of her meditation sessions, she came to secretly be grateful for it. In his own crass and awkward way, he was helping her let go of the past.

Her thoughts were broken when she heard the faint hum of a lightsaber being ignited and cutting through the air. She turned to look for the source of the noise, and located it in another section of the quarters. Soft bluish white light emanated from the space.

"Ben..?"

Rey crept towards it and peeked in... and immediately looked away. Granted, it wasn't the first time, but that didn't change things. Rey could still feel her face heating up.

"You're still not asleep." He didn't even sound surprised.

"I... Couldn't sleep," Rey finished lamely. She carefully kept her eyes on his surroundings. From the corner of her eyes, she noticed what seemed like workout equipment, and a sandbag meant to absorb blows and kicks. This must be his training room, and she must have walked in on him working out.

"Was the bed not to your liking?" He seemed to pick up something on a bench, but Rey continued to keep her gaze elsewhere.

"No-nothing like that. I liked it. It was very comfortable, and it smelt nice," Rey wasn't even sure what she was actually saying at this point. Her cheeks were also getting warmer. Time to change the subject. "Where did you get that?"

Ben frowned. "Get what?"

"The lightsaber. I don't recall yours looking like that. The blade. I saw it. It's different."

"I didn't get it anywhere, it's mine," Ben replied simply. Some time when Rey wasn't looking, he had pulled a shirt over his head. It was a loose fit, but it suited him perfectly, the cloth draping lightly over his chest. Rey looked away, certain now that her ears must be embarrassingly pink.

He waited for her to say something - she always had something to say. But when Rey kept silent, he asked again, "Do you want me to help you sleep?"

"W-what do you mean?"

"I was asking if you'd like me to knock you out."

It dawned on Rey what he was referring to. "Ah.. You mean when you kidnapped me."

Ben eyed her curiously. "Of course. What did you think I was referring to?"

Rey wished the Force bond would break at that very moment and send her back to the Falcon, but alas. Instead, she tried her best to maintain a straight face and said, "No thank you." She pointed more insistently at the lightsaber in his hand. "You still haven't told me about that." She held out his cross guard piece she picked up earlier. "Why did you remove this?"

Had he turned? Rey could feel her heart beat faster at the thought. She noticed that he thought for a while before answering her. "I don't need it anymore."

"And your blade?"

"... I found another crystal to stabilize mine."

"Another crystal? From where?"

Ben sidestepped her question by asking her one of his, "Have you built your blade?"

Rey hesitated. What should she say? That she had been trying but the lightsaber refused to be fixed? That they crystal refused to budge?

Ben let out the most subtle of sighs. "I take it that's a no. Are you still trying to fix that lightsaber? Forget about that scrap of metal. You won't be able to."

"That was Luke's lightsaber, it's not a 'scrap of metal'!" Rey responded hotly. "Weren't you also the one who was so insistent on having it?"

Ben - no, Kylo - remained aloof in his reply. "I was, but not anymore. When that lightsaber split... You cannot fix it because half of it refuses to obey you."

Rey was getting really angry now. "Do you still honestly think that lightsaber belongs to you after everything you did on Crait?"

Kylo ignored her. "Forget about that lightsaber. Reuse it to build your own. Your blade is an extension of yourself."

Rey continued to glare at him. She felt so torn. She should be furious at him for taking so flippantly Luke, his uncle. But he was also giving her sensible advice about lightsabers. The only advice she had come across all these months that directly pertain to building one.

Plus, he actually sounded concerned that she had yet to have a blade of her own. This was all so perplexing.

"Who are you?" Rey blurted out, stepping forward towards him. "Am I talking to Kylo Ren? Am I talking to Ben Solo?" He was so much taller and bigger, she had to look up to continue staring at him. When she asked again, her voice was a whisper, "Who are you?"

He said nothing, but just gazed into her eyes, as if searching for something in them. For a moment, Rey thought she saw the slightest tinge of hurt flitting through his dark, pretty eyes. Her own gaze softened as he leaned in closer to her face. They stayed that way for a while, just looking into each other's eyes. A strange feeling was tugging at her heart. She felt as if she had been staring into those pair of eyes in her dreams her entire life. She almost reached a hand out to touch his face, his hair...

His answer, quiet but pained, startled her. "Rey, must I only be one or the other?"

Rey didn't understand. "Ben..."

He stepped away from her abruptly. "Your Resistance friends must be wondering where you are. Go back."

"Ben, come with me," Rey pleaded one more time. "Leave the First Order behind."

"If the First Order finds about your presence here, I cannot guarantee your safety. Go back."

He had turned his back to her, an indication that their conversation was over.

Almost. Rey felt guilty and shame even as she said the following, "Don't leave me. You promised."

Rey winced. Her chest hurt. At the same time, he turned to look at her and she could see his emotions clearly in his eyes. Disappointment. In her. And hurt. By her very words.

"Go back." he whispered.

Rey was too shocked by everything to slap his hand away from lightly touching her temple. The last thing she saw before her consciousness slipped away was him catching her before she could crash to the ground, and the faint glimmer of tears in his eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

**_A/N:_**

 _ **To new followers of the fic: welcome! Thank you for following, and I hope you'll see this fic to the end.**_

 _ **I set this chapter up to be a bit of an emotional reprieve from the previous two chapters. We return to some characters that haven't been dealt with in this fic for some time.**_

 _ **In any case, I hope you'll enjoy reading it. Feel free to let me know if you have any feedback, theories, etc.!**_

 _ **\- Althea_Draxus**_

* * *

"What do you mean you don't know where she went?" Poe nearly shouted in exasperation at the dull gold humanoid.

C3-PO wasn't taking the scolding very well. "I've told you, Captain Dameron, she was right here in this room when I last saw her," he answered in a rather obtuse tone. If his face was more tactile, he would probably be furrowing his brows, extremely cross at being treated this way by some hotheaded pilot. His best friend, that petite blue and white R2-D2, beeped in support. C3-PO turned to the droid and waved his hand slightly. "It's alright R2, I've gotten used to being treated this way by the Captain."

R2-D2 screeched something in response.

Poe looked on at the two of them and sighed, putting a hand on his forehead. "Damn it. We have to leave very soon, those Pamarthean flyboys have patience as thin as thread." He gave Threepio one last look. "Are you sure Rey didn't tell you where she was going?"

"How many times do I have to repeat myself to you, Captain Dame-"

"Yeah okay, I get it, thanks Threepio," Poe waved him off. R2-D2's head swiveled in his direction. "Yes you too R2." The droid beeped again. "Yes, thank you for fixing up the Falcon. Both of you."

Finn came up to him, clearly worried about their missing friend. "Where could she be?" He gestured to Rey's cloak, which was still on one of the seats in the cockpit. "It's freezing out there and she didn't bring it with her. She can't have gone far."

"I know." Poe raked a hand through his hair. "Plus she had all those lightsaber stuff on her bed. I don't think she'll be out without at least a blaster, especially in a place like this."

"Do you think you can stall your new friends for a while?" Finn suggested. "I'll search for Rey."

"No. Finn, I need you to stay here. On board."

"Wait, what? Hey, Rey could be who knows where out there -"

"Yeah I know, Finn, I know," Poe cut in firmly. "But listen. Me, Commander D'Arcy, Connick, Nien Numb... we'll go talk to the Pamarthe boys and see if they can't help us locate her. If not, at the very least we can stall them while we look for Rey." Poe grimaced. "Although they probably can't care less about her since she's not an officer, but let's try our luck."

Finn didn't look convinced, so Poe sighed and slung an arm across his friend's shoulder. "Look, we all want to be out of this place ASAP, okay? Daxam isn't exactly Allies grounds. If anything happens to us out there, we need someone who can fly the rest of the team out of here. We need someone who can fight. We need someone who can make sure the Resistance survives no matter what." He thumped Finn's chest lightly. "Can you do it?"

"...Find her, Poe," Finn acquiesced reluctantly. The starfighter pilot shot him a half-smile and gave him a reassuring pat on the arm before he left.

Noticing that Poe was gone, C3-PO sidled up to Finn, presumably to continue his complaints. The Resistance's latest officer was having none of it. "No, I'm still angry at you, Threepio."

"Captain Finn, Miss Rey was really asleep near her bed when I last saw her," the humanoid insisted. "But suddenly she was gone."

R2-D2 let out a few more agitated beeping sounds. Finn looked at the droid, and then back at C3-PO for a translation.

"R2 said that we've been here in the main area of the Falcon all day," C3-PO continued. "If Miss Rey had left, we would definitely have seen her." R2-D2 let out a long squeal. Finn thought he sounded angry. He suspected it had something to do with Poe's earlier reaction, but he didn't want to ask. C3-PO too must have thought it better to divert the conversation elsewhere. "Did the meeting go well?"

Finn gave the droids a generic, reassuring answer before excusing himself to his bed, located in the quarters right next to Rey's. He sighed deeply as he thought back to what had transpired on the planet. In all honesty, the meeting with the Pamarthe Resistance went just fine. Of course, initially their convoy was greeted by a ring of about fifteen starfighter pilots aiming their blasters at them. But once Commander D'Arcy identified herself and pulled out a hologram message from Mon Mothma, the pilots' leader Aslik Sallaros was more than happy to host them over at their base located at one of Daxam IV's more remote outskirts. Rey had to stay behind on the Falcon, no thanks to Sallaros's snobbish officers-only policy. But the rest of the Resistance had hopped onto the snow trucks driven Sallaros and his friends to make their way over to the Pamarthe Resistance base. It was cleverly hidden behind a fake ice wall. It also had its secrecy guaranteed by paying the cartels running the area. In exchange, the pilots ran smuggling errands for them: weapons, fuel, even drugs and slaves. Rose wasn't particularly impressed by that piece of information. Neither was Finn, but he wasn't surprised. This was Daxam IV after all, and the Pamarthe Resistance's expressed orders were to ensure their underground survival at all cost. No one except the highest command of the Resistance was supposed to know they existed.

The Pamarthe Resistance base ran underground for four floors, even though it had two above-ground floors disguised as a warehouse for wool. The warehouse farce was complete with unsuspecting guards and workers who genuinely had no idea that they were scurrying around on top of a fully defensible fortress on a daily basis. The entrance to the underground floors was located in a shed next to the waste disposal area of the warehouse, accessible only by the Pamarthean Resistance officers who knew which exact wooden panels to press - and in which order - to enter their base. It was complex and impressive at the same time, and Poe had remarked to Finn that perhaps they too should consider such "fancy tricks" in the future. Meanwhile, Commander D'Arcy had muttered something about how they first needed to find a physical base in the Outer Rim, away from First Order space but close enough to the Core worlds.

Sallaros overheard their conversation, apparently. In an unexpected gesture of generosity, Sallaros unveiled to them a complete map of bases, both belonging to the Resistance or Rebel Alliance at one point in time, and those belonging to other military factions but have since been abandoned and forgotten. When asked how the Pamarthe Resistance got hold of such information, Sallaros just shrugged and credited it to Mon Mothma, "On several occasions, Her Excellency's historian training proves to be useful."

Both parties had deliberated on viable locations to re-establish a base, taking into consideration location, defense capacities, and communications availability. Commander D'Arcy and Poe were in favour of focusing on one strategic place, since both officers were reluctant to spread out the already decimated Resistance. But the Pamartheans suggested maintaining several bases - perhaps one or two functional ones, while the rest were decoys to be operated remotely.

"We have enough old planes that we can't care less if they get blown up anyway," was Sallaros's way of offering assistance.

Eventually they settled on five bases. The actual base would be located in the Mid Rim planet of Quas Killam for two reasons: its present government's sympathy for the Resistance, and that its main business was weapons manufacturing. ("Better the Resistance than have it fall to the Order," Sallaros had remarked wryly.) Meanwhile decoy bases would be scattered across the sectors, including at the peripheries of First Order space, but only on planets that were no longer inhabited or gas giants to minimize collateral damage. Sallaros then adjourned to have a discussion with his Team of 25 about the Pamarthe Resistance's place in this entire scheme. He returned about five hours later with his deputies, and announced that they had reached a consensus. The Pamartheans would escort the Resistance to Quas Killam, but they themselves would not stay on at the new base. Instead, Sallaros promised to send assistance when urgently required. Not even his admiration for Poe could sway his decision.

With the arrangement settled, the plan was for the Resistance to immediately return to the Falcon and prepare to jump to hyperspace to get to Quas Killam. Commander D'Arcy was more sanguine about staying on a bit longer on the tundra planet, but Poe was anxious to keep moving. It was as he had told Finn: Daxam IV was teeming with allies, enemies, and mercenaries. If the First Order could trace them to Chandrila, they could easily locate them on this cartel-ridden planet. They needed to leave quickly.

Except that now, Rey had mysteriously gone missing. Finn wanted to believe that she stepped out of the Falcon for a quick survey of Daxam IV's landscape, but she would definitely have brought her heavy cloak. Rey might be a Jedi, but she was from a blazing hot desert. Even Finn himself had to bundle up to stave off the planet's icy winds, and he had the benefit of years of Stormtrooper in-snow training. Plus C3-PO and R2-D2 were adamant that Rey had not left the Falcon.

Maybe it's a Jedi thing to disappear, Finn thought to reassure himself, even though the very idea of it sounded preposterous even in his head. He peered into Rey's quarters, which still had no Rey but only the dismantled components of her lightsaber and blaster on her cot. Finn sat down next to it, and noticed that somehow Rey managed to dislodge the blue Kyber crystal from the lightsaber's casing.

"She did it," Finn chuckled, remembering how frustrated she had been all this while at the stubbornness of the crystal. He was about to stand up to leave when he noticed rippling in the space next to him. Finn frowned. He reached out to touch it, but then yelped when all of a sudden Rey materialized beside him. She was clearly asleep, with a black cape draped over her. Finn watched on with a mixture of shock and disbelief as something invisible adjusted the cape to rest on her shoulders, and tucked her fringe behind her ear.

What was going on here? Cautiously he poked her shoulder, his bewilderment intensifying when he realized that the Rey that had appeared before him had a material presence. He tapped her shoulder again, this time round calling out her name, "Rey! Rey!"

His voice must have shocked her, because Rey jolted awake with a cry, "Ben!"

"Ben?"

She blinked a few times, before glancing around her. When she noticed Finn seated beside her, she murmured, "Finn...? And the Falcon... I'm back?"

"Back? Rey, what happened?" Finn asked, his brows furrowing with concern. There was a strange sadness around her.

Rey touched her forehead absentmindedly. "How did I get back here?"

"You for real, Rey? Poe and I honestly thought you went missing from the ship. But suddenly you appeared out of thin air right here, where you're seated. What happened?"

"I was..." Rey's words trailed off when she noticed the cape enveloped around her. She fingered the zinged edges and tears on the cloth, a detail that Finn came to notice as well. Where had he seen it before?

Suddenly, he remembered that Poe and Commander D'Arcy were otherwise looking for her. Now that Rey was back, he should inform them so they could make their way out of Daxam IV as soon as possible. "Hold on, I gotta let Poe know you're back. But Rey... Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I am," Rey simply nodded at him with a forced smile. "It's just..." She laughed, but it sounded so hollow. "Wait, let me just get my head around all of this first."

"Okay, I'll be back. You can tell me more later." Finn returned her smile with a more sincere one of his own before he left to get to the commlinks to update Poe.

As he made his way to the cockpit, he thought back to the cape that Rey was wearing. He couldn't shake off the feeling that it was a very familiar-looking piece.

Finn suddenly stopped in his tracks. Hold on, Rey also mentioned a name. Ben. Didn't it originally belong to a particular person, who now went by a different one? A person who had no qualms ordering his men to fire all their guns on a single man, someone who had killed his own father. And of course, the very person who had almost killed him on Starkiller Base.

Kylo Ren.

His commlink beeped, indicating that Poe was on the other line. Finn hurriedly spoke into it, "Hey, Rey's back! Head on back, we're good to go."

But why did Rey have his cape? Where had she gone? And why was she so distraught for him, her enemy? None of this made any sense.

"She's back?!" Poe's voice crackled through. "Okay great! We're coming back to base. Set it up for flight."

"Got it," Finn said before he disconnected.

Rey would surely have answers for everything that happened. Her sudden disappearance, her apparition, Kylo Ren's distinguishable cape draped over her. Finn needed to know, but he would ask her later, as a friend. If it turned out to be something that needed to be hidden from the rest of the team... well, that can be a worry for later.

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere on board the Finalizer in First Order space, Armitage Hux admired the way he a lavish red robe with white and gold trimmings complemented his hair and pale skin. He looked stately, the way that a Supreme Leader ought to look. He had secretly commissioned the robe to be made for him. How unfortunate he could only revel in such appearances in the privacy of his quarters. But this would only be until he ascended the throne, as he should have in the first place.

A couple of officers were seated in his quarters with him. Some of them were unable to conceal their amusement at the sight of their General pacing about with his robe flowing behind him. If they were friends, he probably would have minded it. Except that friends did not exist in the First Order. There were only loyalists and temporary allies. A good thing that both were dispensable. But for now, they served him very well, Hux had no reason to terminate any of them.

It was courtesy of his loyalists that Hux now had in his possession recovered holotapes of what had transpired on the Supremacy all those months ago. Everyone had assumed that all data was lost after the Raddus crashed through the dreadnought. Ren of course was completely uninterested in such acquisition. In fact, he would have called for the First Order to abandon the Supremacy entirely if he had his way. It was Hux who had argued and insisted that they retain the Supremacy, as a floating fortress for the much smaller Finalizer.

But unknown to Ren, Hux had also wanted the Order to retain the Supremacy because he wasn't entirely convinced by Ren's tall story about how a scavenger girl had snuck onto the dreadnought and annihilated not only Supreme Leader Snoke but the Praetorian Guards, not to mention knocking out Ren himself. Between Ren and that desert rat, it seemed more likely that Ren had perpetrated all of it.

Hux had secretly inquired members of the Order who were on the Supremacy that fateful day. It wasn't a difficult task; perhaps Ren forgot that behind their masks, Stormtroopers had eyes and a loyalty to serve the Order first above all. They had informed him that apparently Ren had spent a large part of the day anxiously standing at the bridge, as if waiting for something. When a pod delivered itself into the Supremacy's hangar, he almost ran towards it and would have opened the door of the pod himself if not for the Stormtroopers' insistence to do it as a security measure. Rather than an object, the pod revealed a person - that very desert rat from Jakku. At least two Stormtroopers claimed they saw the barest hint of a smile on Ren's face as he helped her out of the pod. The only thing Ren allowed the Stormtroopers to do was to cuff her, but he was to be the only one to escort her up the elevator towards the throne room. Those accounts were enough to convince Hux to order that holotapes of relevant places in the Supremacy be recovered as much as possible.

He was not disappointed. If anything, his suspicion was vindicated. His loyalists managed to retrieve most parts of the security tapes in the elevator and in the throne room. Hux had watched as those tapes showed him the way the lightsaber sliced Supreme Leader Snoke in half, and how all the Praetorian Guards were massacred. It was enough to drag Ren down.

But as Hux reviewed the tapes further, he noticed something else: Ren's utter fascination with the girl. The way his head turned to look at her every time she moved. A Supreme Leader unable to resist an enemy of the Order was a story Hux never expected, but right now, terribly useful if he needed to make use of it.

This was why he had gathered these officers in his quarters: to figure out the next step. Against a Force Sensitive like Ren, the only viable option seemed to be a coup backed by the entire Order. But with the current evidence Hux had, he might as well also use it to isolate the Resistance further. Hux had listened to the suggestions offered by his officers as he donned his future imperial robe and paced about in his quarters, weighing their options seriously.

By the time he returned the robes to his wardrobe, the officers knew he had made his decision.

General Armitage Hux regarded them with a triumphant smirk. "We proceed, officers. Release the tapes."


	8. Chapter 8

Being promoted to be part of the new triumvirate of the First Order should have been something exciting. It should have been the highlight of a career for a petty officer with no illustrious background to speak of. But for the past seven to eight months, Captain Peafound himself more often than not being the third wheel in the acrimonious relationship between the Supreme Leader and General Hux. In fact, Peavey was actually convinced he was really there to prevent the two from outright killing each other. It almost felt like a dream to witness them having a peaceful, almost civil discussion first thing in the morning.

"More and more Republican planets are offering to submit to us," Hux held out a couple of holopad containing the treaty offers the First Order had received since yesterday. "I believe it'll be wise for us to accept their offers."

Ren picked up one of the holopads and swiped his finger across the screen. The offers came from planets already sympathetic to the fallen Empire in the first place, including prominent ones like Mandalore and Arkanis. Places that had waiting for the longest time to rush forward and embrace the Order openly.

He handed them back to Hux, who had been looking on expectantly. "Tell them that we will consider, but the offer shall be made by us. On our terms, not theirs. But... there is a particular offer..." The Supreme Leader appeared to hesitate before he named the planet. "Chandrila."

Hux's reaction was a smug smile. "People are fickle, Ren. And in politics, even more so. My mole assures me that support for the Order in the Chandrila senate is all but confirmed."

Ren met his words with silence. Peavey knew he was mulling over what Hux had just said. It sounded too good to be true. Chandrila was one of the prime seats of the New Republic. Their politicians might be divided over how they perceived the efficacy of the Republic with cynicism over the years, but if anything, they were known to be fervently against the Empire and anything resembling it. The First Order would have been its new natural enemy.

But Ren eventually spoke, and his words took his two deputies by surprise. "I will go down to the planet to assess the situation myself. Have your men prepare my ship."

Both Hux and Peavey almost leapt out of their seats upon hearing it. Hux in particular was near-seething as he demanded, "Are you doubting my informants, Ren?"

Ren merely looked askance at him, a slight frown marring his stony face. "Why, General? Should there be reasons for me to doubt your men?" He leaned back in his chair, eyeing Hux carefully. "We are all familiar with Chandrila's reputation. To suddenly have them offer us a peace alliance... It's a very curious thing. But if the Senate is already in favour of us as you've just told me, General, then I don't see any issue if I were to go there."

"...I'll inform my men in Chandrila to prepare for your arrival," Hux muttered, settling back into his seat and pulling his holopad towards him.

"No, don't bother. Keep my visit confidential. I don't need a large number of men, either. Around five will do. This is a diplomatic visit, not a siege."

Peavey had been quietly observing the exchange, but suddenly Ren turned to him and said, "You have something on your mind, Captain."

He winced. Was his disapproval too evident? He had been been overhearing things from the Stormtroopers for quite some time. It usually didn't bother him. But somehow today, Ren's announcement of his decision brought those things back to mind.

Ren was still waiting for a response. Peavey shakily clearly his throat and steeled himself to address the Supreme Leader. "It has come to my attention that your... frequent absence is starting to cause discord amongst our men."

"I don't recall the former Supreme Leader being more present than I am with them currently."

"No, but these men have seen you join them on the battlefield. It seems that they expect your participation to continue."

"And?"

"The Resistance." Peavey suddenly became more conscious of the words he would speak next. "Some of our men are questioning your lack of action against them, even though we've encountered them a couple of times since Crait. Also..." He peeked at Hux furtively, but the general pretended to not notice the conversation playing out as he busied himself with his holopad. "There is a rumour going around that you are planning to replace them with clones. I was wondering...might it not be better for you to address our men, before their faith in your Order dwindles any further?"

Peavey expected the Supreme Leader to scoff at these revelations. After all, Ren had a valid point. Snoke was even more detached from the First Order military than him. And in his capacity as Supreme Leader, Ren was under no obligation to listen to these complaints. The Stormtroopers and the military command existed for the First Order. This was their raison d'être, and everyone knew it.

To his surprise, the first thing that Ren said in response was, "Captain, I understand."

Peavey dared to raise his head, but only to see that Ren actually looked troubled. Even when he answered Peavey, his voice carried a faint trace of regret that the matter transpired the way it did.

The Supreme Leader continued, "But I also ask that you and your men understand the situation. The First Order is no longer an outlier regime. The Republic is dead, and we have taken its place. If we hope for the Order to bring stability to the systems, then we must not make the same mistakes as the Empire."

"And the future of our troops?" At some point Hux had tuned himself into discussion, or perhaps it was the only point he wished to press Ren on. Peavey suspected it was the latter. "I recall you considering the use of clones in the past, when you doubted my men."

Ren inhaled sharply at the interjected, but when he replied, it was quiet and measured. "I have requested my Acquisitor Knights to no longer induct children into your military programme. There will be adjustments, and I will let you know when the time comes."

"You will let us know?" Hux nearly shrieked. His hands slammed down on the meeting table, and he used it to push himself out of his seat. He glared at Ren, fuming. "You cut off our supply of men, and you didn't even inform us! I have been here in the Order long before you. I oversaw the formation of our stormtroopers, I trained them. I brought the Order to its hei - urkkk!"

The venerable general never got round to finishing his words, because he had to redirect his energy to struggle against being choked by the Force. Once Hux looked like he would quieten down, Ren released the hold. Hux continued to glower at him even as he furiously rubbed his sore neck.

"I don't like to repeat myself, General. But I will say it one more time for you." Ren had modulated his voice to remain soft but in a way that reverberated around the room. Both Hux and Peavey shivered as goosebumps crept up their back. "The First Order is no longer a massive military unit for you to play with. We must prepare to govern, General. I had thought you of all people would be intelligent enough to grasp this."

"Forgive me, Supreme Leader," Hux hissed out an apology that had zero possibility of being sincere.

Or being heard, for that matter. Ren had moved on to the next item of their agenda: a handling of the First Order's accounts. He pointedly ignored Hux as he directed his questions and requests to Peavey. It appeared that Ren wanted a full audit in order to trace the sources of their finances. It was also to decide whether it would be worth it to continue repairing the Supremacy, or it might be cheaper to do away with it and build a new dreadnought altogether.

Throughout the entire exchange, Peavey could feel Hux glaring at both of them with a deep-seated hatred. It wasn't the first time he had been slighted by the Supreme Leader, but definitely the first in a very long while since he was Force-choked. In that moment, Peavey wondered if he shouldn't start worrying about Hux more seriously now. After all, Hux was raised and trained to kill while making murder look like an accident; how else did he depose his own father? It was an open secret within the corridors of the First Order, and many - including Peavey - knew to not inquire any further, in case the general caught wind of it.

A message beeped as it came onto their holopads: the Supreme Leader's command shuttle was ready. Ren stood to leave without another glance to Hux, but nodded his head in acknowledgment of Peavey. The two military officers stood to see him out wordlessly. It was only after Ren had fully left the space, and the doors long closed behind him that Peavey could hear Hux exhale loudly - and with much frustration.

"How irksome," Hux might have intended to mutter it but the words rang out clear as day. "Absolutely nothing like a Supreme Leader."

Peavey sighed inwardly as he reached to pick up the holopads and datapads. "You mean like Snoke?"

Hux sneered back. "I take it you prefer Ren's leadership, captain, seeing that you're where you are today thanks to him."

Peavey wished he could pummel the younger man in the face. Maybe break his nose. The Supreme Leader might have done better if the Force Choke had damaged Hux's vocal cords. That would be better for everyone.

It didn't look like Hux was backing down from a challenge so Peavey replied, "Yes, but not for that reason alone. Under Ren, there is less fear amongst the top brass. I much prefer that. We have more autonomy."

Hux snorted. "Which is why he cannot command respect. And do you really think we have more autonomy when the Supreme Leader is this intrusive?" By now Hux was positively railing, letting out all the thoughts he was forced to hold back from articulating in Ren's presence. Peavey had to lean back slightly in case some stray spittle flew in his direction. "He should have more faith in us, Captain. But instead, what did he do? Put an end to our soldiers without telling us."

At the mention of their men, Peavey's face became clouded. Hux could see doubt settling back in his eyes.

He patiently waited until Peavey finally admitted, "General, I didn't want to believe about the possibility of the clone replacement. But after Ren told us about the Acquisitors..." He shook his head. "I am not too sure. The strength of our men is precisely because they are trained from birth."

Hux hesitated slightly before he said, "Captain, I wonder if... No, I shouldn't say it."

"Say what?"

"No, it's treasonous. If it comes to be known by the Supreme Leader then -"

"Just tell me, General," Peavey resisted the urge to sigh. Again. Why did he have to work with such exasperating, overly dramatic figures?

"Look at this, Captain." Hux pulled out his holopad and loaded something to be projected from the screen. "Some of our technicians came across this footage while repairing the Supremacy. I... It's hard to believe... That we've been lied to all this time..."

Peavey peered closer at the footage playing out in front of him. He recognized the throne room, he saw Snoke... And Snoke sliced in half. His blue eyes widened when he saw the blade flying towards Ren, caught mid-air by that scavenger girl... And the massacre of the Praetorian Guards. The girl struggled but Ren mercilessly took down two, three, four...

"It wasn't just the girl," Hux interjected quietly. "She had help from Ren. The Resistance had help from Ren."

Peavey shook his head in disbelief, but it was no longer possible to deny the truth. "Have you shown this to anyone?"

"Of course not. Do you want me to get killed, Captain?" An obvious lie, and some of the tapes were already being transmitted out, but Peavey didn't have to know any of that.

Hux watched on curiously as Peavey impatiently checked into his commlink. Once his officers were on the line, he demanded, "Has the command shuttle left?"

"The Supreme Leader's? Yes. But..."

"But?"

"The Stormtroopers who were supposed to escort him. They've been ordered out of his ship. The Supreme Leader wishes to fly alone."

"Fly alone?" Peavey echoed, glancing at Hux to make sure the general too was catching on to their conversation. Hux's face darkened. Peavey took it as his cue. "Everyone to assemble on deck. Troopers, officers, everyone. Now."

Hux of course heard everything, and he could imagine why Peavey did what he did. But better to feign ignorance and play along, anyway.

He made sure to exaggerate his frown before he asked, "Captain, what are you planning to do?"

Peavey looked at him pointedly. "General, with your permission, I'd like to show those holotapes to our men. The Chandrila Senate may be in favour of us, but..."

"There is no guarantee Ren is heading there to meet them," Hux finished for him. He pretended to consider Peavey's request for a brief moment, before he finally said, "Very well, Captain. You may proceed. Our men need to know that Ren is selling the Order out to the enemy."

Up to this point, everything was as Hux had planned. What he did not expect, however, was for Peavey to stamp his foot to stand at attention and salute him.

And uttered the words he longed to hear: "Long live the Supreme Leader."

Hux beamed.


	9. Chapter 9

The sleek Upsilon-class command shuttle cruised languidly across the galaxy.

Kylo stood at the bridge, leaning slightly against the glass window as he looked out into the vast expanse of space. Normally he would have a flight crew with him to handle the controls, or at least Lieutenant Tayson to act as his shuttle pilot. That was still the plan when he was in the meeting room with the other two members of the triumvirate. But when he stepped into the ship, he changed his mind.

The five randomly selected Stormtroopers didn't mind when he dismissed them. But the rest of his officer crew were surprised, and Tayson especially was concerned. Kylo wasn't particularly close to them, but his crew had bonded over a strong dislike for Armitage Hux. His officers had tried to convince him to at least have some TIE fighter escorts throughout his flight as an added safety measure. The command shuttle was built to be well-defended, but in terms of retaliatory firepower, it tend to rely on accompanying TIE fighters as cover. Kylo was almost touched by their response. In any case, his officers' attempts weren't very successful, and they reluctantly let Kylo board the shuttle alone. Once the command shuttle left the Finalizer's, Kylo had it jump into hyperspace, and it re-emerged somewhere in the belt of the Core worlds. He could have just jumped straight into Chandrila's orbit, but the thought of the planet weighed heavily on his heart.

Still, he could only stall for so long. Large swathes of blue and vast patches of greenish brown spread across a planetary surface loomed into his view. Kylo trembled despite himself. He remembered very well the last time he had seen the planet from space. It had been on board a ship as well, but one older and smaller than his current craft. But he was being flown out from Chandrila, not flying towards it. He winced at the memory, and the feelings that came with it.

No, he tried desperately to steel himself, even as he charted the command shuttle to descend on the planet's surface. Ben Solo was taken from Chandrila. The one piloting the shuttle piercing through the planet's atmosphere right now was Kylo Ren. Supreme Leader of the First Order. He wasn't coming home, he was here to retrieve the planet's loyalty.

The wings of the Upsilon shuttle folded up and inwards as it prepared to land. Kylo had purposely chosen to park the ship within a forested area away from but near enough to Chandrila's capital, Hanna City. Alighting at one of the landing and docking platforms in the city would have brought unwanted attention.

Kylo took a deep breath before he descended down the ship's ramp and onto the soil of Chandrila. The forest air was crisp and fresh. He missed it. Even more reason for the First Order to settle on a planet and establish a capital that was not onboard a space craft.

He made his way through the trees, along a path that he once knew. It would lead to a man-made trail. If he followed it out, he would reach the outskirts of the city.

Or that was what he remembered. Clearly, Hanna City had its own development ideas for the past fifteen years or so he was away. The city's outskirts, once notable for its open fields, now host massive, private residences. One could almost call them mini castles, with the way each residence was sprawled out and gated, complete with their own extensive gardens. There was a road running through that led to the city. The more clearly one could see the Skygarden hovering over it, the nearer one was to the seat of Chandrila and the New Republic.

Had he expected Chandrila to remain the same, even after he himself had changed so much? Perhaps. It would make walking down the streets and roads of the planet and its capital easier; he didn't have to think about them. Recognizing how much things have changed invariably meant that he would remember how everything had been, how his life had been, before everything that happened had led him to his current life path.

Kylo walked on in silence. Occasionally a hovercraft or two drove past, emerging from or heading back to one of the lavish manors lining the road. No one paid him any attention. Most likely they didn't care. Even if he had walked down with his mask, they would probably just pretend to not recognize him. Ignorance was how many rich and powerful people got by in life. Chandrilans, for all their idealism, were not any different.

Also he had been away for so long. Perhaps people didn't even remember how Ben Solo looked like. The last time they probably saw him around was when he was a scrawny boy of thirteen, always too quiet and too withdrawn in public settings. Kylo Ren looked nothing like that scared boy now.

And yet, he stopped at the mention of his birth name.

"Ben...Solo?"

He should have continued walking towards the city. Instead, he slowly turned around to see who had called out to him.

It was a human female around his age, with dark hair pinned back in a low bun, kept in place with a large, ornate gold hairpin. Her dress was made of blood orange drapes, embroidered at the torso with gold and bronze threads. She wasn't particularly pretty, but she carried herself with poise, an indication of her status in society.

Kylo frowned. Did he know her? He tried to recall.

The lady however had no such qualms. She walked up to him, studying his eyes and hair as she did so, and beamed. "Ben Solo! I would recognize that hair and eyes anywhere." She noticed his cautious expression and snorted, "Oh come on. I don't look that different from fifteen years ago. It's me, Dure. Dureena Adras."

"Dureena?"

"Remember when we were 5 and you, me and Talohn snuck onto your father's ship and thought we were good enough to fly? Except that we got caught by your Uncle Lando because you peed in your pants and wouldn't stop crying?"

Kylo's face burned as the memory returned to him. He regarded the lady in front of him once again. He remembered her now. They grew up together - she, him, and Talohn Olreb. Han and Lando had dubbed them the Noble Triplets, referencing both these children's place in society and how they went everywhere together. Everything ended when he was sent to his uncle.

"Dure, it's been a while," Kylo greeted her formally.

"I haven't seen you in fifteen years and that's all you have to tell me?"

"...you finally look like a girl."

"I'm glad you noticed," Dure remarked dryly. Her face grew serious. "Are you here... To see your mother?"

Kylo swallowed upon hearing her words. He had tried not to think about it. But he responded, "...yes. Is she...at the Senators' mausoleum?"

Dure nodded. "It's closed today, though. But if you'd like, I can go with you tomorrow. I have errands to run at the Plaza."

"No, it's alright," he declined, starting to move away to continue his journey to the city. "Good to see you, Dure."

"Wait, where are you going?" Her hand shot out to grip his arm. For someone with long, slender fingers, she had quite the strength. It matched the tone of her voice. "Ben Solo, you're coming with me. At the very least let me host a friend I haven't seen for more than half my life."

Kylo hesitated. But he thought about why he came to Chandrila in the first place, and eventually relented.

Dure's residence was along the road, a three-storey manor that was one of the smaller ones in the area. But like her neighbours, her manor too kept its non-inhabitants out by a tall gate, with silver bars and turreted tips. Visitors were first welcomed by a practical, well-maintained garden with a small fountain. Kylo followed her in wordlessly, even as she rattled on to describe her "small paradise".

The interior was spacious and bright. The windows stretched to the floor, allowing light from the sun to stream into the space, glistening off its brass and copper-plated furniture. A large portrait hung as centre piece: Dure holding a swaddled child and beside her, a handsome man with blond hair and sparkling grey eyes. It reminded him of another portrait hanging in another house.

Dure noticed him gazing at the portrait, and she sighed happily, "I still can't believe Thalon grew up to look like that."

"I can't believe he married you." Kylo responded with a smirk. "Speaking of which, where is he?"

A cloud passed over Dure's features. "Thalon's gone." She said softly. "Hosnian Prime. He was on their Senate."

Kylo flinched, but Dure didn't notice. Instead her attention had shifted elsewhere, as if searching for something. As if in response, the upper floors of the manor rattled.

Dure threw up her hands in exasperation. "Oh Kriff! LEONARDO! Get down here!"

The pattering of feet erupted through the hallway and down the stairs. Kylo looked on as a child of about four years of age, with wavy dirty blond hair and keen eyes, appeared with all the smile of mischief done right. When he saw Kylo, however, the smile disappeared as the boy hid behind Dure's skirts. He peeked out bashfully at the towering man in front of him.

Dure sighed as she dragged the boy out from behind her. "Stop hiding, you silly boy." She chided him, but it sounded affectionate. She gestured to Kylo as she explained, "This is Ben Solo, a longtime friend of mine. Say hello."

Dure had to give the boy another nudge before he shyly extended a hand towards Kylo and introduced himself, "Hello, I'm Leonardo Olreb."

Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader of the First Order, had no business kneeling down to people. But Ben Solo did. As he did so, he shook Leonardo's hand with a gloved one of his, and spoke as softly as the boy did, "Hello, Leonardo."

The boy quickly returned to hiding behind Dure's skirts. Dure turned to Kylo, who was still crouched on the floor. "I've always wanted Leo to meet you," she confessed. "He... Is different. I want so much to understand it...but I can't. I'm sure you could, though. He's a bit like you..."

Kylo looked up at her. "Like me?"

Dure said nothing, but Kylo understood what she meant, and what she was asking of him. He peered at the boy again, trying to see if what his mother suspected was true. And sure enough, he could see it, the Force. But it was mild, only surrounding the boy. It didn't radiate off him.

Kylo inched closer to Leo and asked, "Have you always been like this?"

".. Yes." Leo spoke in a small voice, looking down at his feet. "When I get angry, things break around me, and I don't know why. When I'm excited too. Things move."

"Are you scared of it?"

"...I don't know," he said quietly. He glanced at his mother, who took the cue to excuse herself from the room. Once she was gone, Leo took a deep breath and continued, "But I know Daddy was. That's why he went away for years."

Kylo felt a strange tug in his heart. The boy's words sounded all too familiar. And so was the fear and sadness lacing his voice.

"You shouldn't be afraid," Kylo didn't know if he spoke to comfort the boy or the boy that he was. "You're not a monster."

"Then why didn't Daddy want to see me?"

"He's afraid." Kylo's words came out with more force than he intended, but he hardly cared. "You are more powerful than he could ever imagine. More powerful than he could ever be." Kylo peeled his gloves off and extended a hand to the boy. "I understand. I'm just like you."

"You're the friend Mummy talks about," Leo commented. "The one who was sent off to be a Jedi."

Kylo had expected awe in the boy's voice at the mention of the Jedi, but it was filled with sadness. For him. Why? Kylo shifted uncomfortably, but didn't get up from the crouched position he had adopted to speak to the boy.

"Were you sad when you had to leave?"

Kylo didn't know how to answer the boy's question. Was he sad? Of course he was. Any child would be, especially when they were taken by their own parents. But even as a child, he knew to hid it on the Falcon en route to where his uncle was. Only his mother knew he cried, not because she saw it, but because she felt it in the Force. And even so, she had let him.

Without warning, Leo reached to touch the tip of Kylo's hand. His movement was cautious. He was still uncertain. Eventually the boy gathered his resolve and asked timidly, "Mr Ben, can you teach me without taking me away?"

Against Kylo Ren's better judgment, Ben Solo answered with a soft smile, "Of course."


	10. Chapter 10

For some reason or another, the mood in the Millennium Falcon picked up as the ship sailed through hyperspace towards the destination of their future base, Quas Killam. It might have to do with relief that new allies had been found. Or it might also have to do with the shots of Port in the Storm being offered around. Everyone had initially rejected the notorious drink, until Aslik Sallaros grudgingly diluted the wine to the point that what was being passed around resembled water with a hint of Pamarthe's trademark drink.

After sending word in advance to the governor of Quas Killam about their intention to stop by the Mid Rim planet (permission, actually), Poe had been the first to take a shot out of courtesy and respect for the Pamarthe captain. Despite being more than ten parts water, the wine still burned his throat. But his decision to reach out for another shot immediately won him increased admiration by Sallaros, and also his friendship. "Commander Dameron" and "Captain Sallaros" gave way to "Poe" and "Aslik", both forms of address exchanged with mutual endearment.

Lieutenant Connix could only look on, speechless, as the two pilots bonded over more shots. As a personal rule, she didn't drink alcohol. The first and last time she tried it, it was full of embarrassing regrets she would rather not recall. For now, her status as a teetotaler left her in charge of the cockpit. Her copilot was the ever eager protocol droid Threepio, whose incessant complaints were driving her up the wall. Thankfully she caught sight of Rose sitting nearby with the Porgs and Chewbacca, and Lieutenant Connix found a girlfriend to have a more sensible conversation with than Threepio.

Meanwhile, the higher command had taken the chance to catch up on sleep, or to ease the muscle aches that came with age. Commander D'Arcy too had helped herself to a glass of diluted Port. "All the better to get some sleep with," she had remarked wearily to Lieutenant Connix before shuffling back to her cabin, but not without a wistful look around at the new friendships formed on board the ship.

It seemed that amongst the younger ones, only two people were missing out on the fun: Finn and Rey, and that was because the two friends were huddled in Rey's sleeping compartment, speaking in low voices and hoping that no one would overhear their conversation.

"Let me get this straight," Finn could hardly believe what he was hearing from his friend. "You and Kylo Ren have been talking to each other? Across galaxies?"

Rey bit her lip nervously. "I know, it sounds crazy. But that's what's been happening."

Actually there were more. She thought back to the time in the cave at Ach-To, or how she had sent herself to the Finalizer with Chewie's help, knowing that he would be there to welcome her. But it might be better for Finn not to know these additional stories.

Finn gestured at the cape with the zinged edges that was now laid over Rey's lap like a blanket. "I thought you said you could only see each other in the Force. Not that you are physically... wherever the other one is."

"Yeah, well." Rey shifted uncomfortably.

Finn was quick to catch on. He looked around him frantically, prompting a confused look from Rey. "Look, if he's suddenly going to appear in here-"

Rey waved her hand dismissively at his suggestion. "No, no. It doesn't work that way. Ben can't just appear. I mean, it used to be that Ben and I would be in our own spaces, wherever we are but-"

Finn snorted at the way she addressed their enemy, but Rey continued as if she never heard him. "When I fell asleep that time, I... had dreams... and I ended up waking up in his quarters, on his ship."

"In his quarters. And?"

"We talked," Rey answered, fighting back a blush as her mind flashed back to that moment when she touched his scar. Well. She thought she was dreaming. It should be excusable. And also definitely not something to tell Finn. By now, he must have thought her quite mad.

But Finn merely raised an eyebrow, expecting her to continue. Rey had to finish lamely, "Ben was a very good host. He made me tea. And lent me a space to sleep so I could return."

To be very precise, she was sent back. After being rejected by Ben, and then knocked out. Rey didn't expect the memory to sting this much.

The two friends sat in silence for a while - Finn trying to process what had just been revealed to him, and Rey wondering whether she did the right thing to unveil the Force Bond occurrences. Ought she have kept it a secret? Would it stop now that someone else was aware of it? She felt a strange ache in her heart at the idea of not being able to see Ben again.

Rey frowned. Why was she feeling this way? Did she actually want to see him again? Her mind suddenly conjured an image of Ben, sitting somewhere in his quarters. Probably doing some Supreme Leader stuff like verifying datapads. Maybe he was meditating, or even sleeping. The latter thought brought the memory of being in his bed back into her mind, and Rey hurriedly quashed it out of embarrassment, although it was probably too late. She could feel her ears burning.

Meanwhile, Finn had been watching her curiously. Even if she wasn't going to say it, he could tell by the looks flitting across her face - that faraway look in her eyes, the occasional spread of pink blush across her cheeks, an accidentally heaved sigh or two - that she was in fact, thinking about the person who was technically their enemy. And not in the way he should be thought of. Throughout their entire conversation, it had been Ben this, Ben that. It was always Ben, never Kylo Ren.

"Rey, he's the Supreme Leader of the First Order," he tried to remind her of that indisputable fact.

"Finn, he'll turn. I know he will. I've seen it. I've seen him."

He shook his head at her words. "Power traps people, but sometimes they let themselves be trapped. Willingly. He's no longer just a part of the First Order, Rey. He's leading it, and they've been trying to get us killed."

Rey said nothing, but simply looked away. Her fingers played with the cape on her lap, clenching it at times. When she eventually spoke, she almost sounded sad. "You know, Finn, there was once I called him a monster. He didn't deny it."

"Of course he is. He even killed Han."

"Yes but..." Rey's voice broke off momentarily, as if she was struggling to put her thoughts into words. "He didn't look proud of it all. He looked as if..."

Finn scoffed. "So you're telling me that Kylo Ren is going to just let the Resistance go scot-free? Come on, Rey. We've been fleeing from his damn TIE fighters all these months."

"I know, but I don't think he wants it. The First Order isn't just him alone."

Finn groaned inwardly. Rey was really stubborn. He glanced over to see her looking at him with so much conviction in her own words. He couldn't understand. "Why do you believe in him so much? What if he's just trying to make you reveal our location?"

"He's not!" Rey insisted, more fervently this time. "And I won't jeopardize the Resistance, even if-"

She caught herself before she could complete her sentence, but by now Finn had it all out figured out.

He squinted at her and asked directly, "Do you like him, Rey?"

Rey said nothing, but the frozen expression on her face was answer enough. Finn sighed. As if they weren't already having enough trouble running away from the First Order. But what could he say to the revelation? That she's being naive? Suddenly he recalled the moment Rey materialized next to him, and the way the cape was rearranged over her shoulders, and how her hair was tucked behind her ear, as if by some invisible force. Could it be that it was him, Kylo Ren? If so, those actions hardly seemed like they belong to a man intending to kill. Rather...

He looked at Rey again. He had never seen her so distraught, not so much at her own feelings, but as to how he would react to it. Maybe he would relent, for her sake. It was probably a good thing he came to know about this whole situation first, instead of the rest of the Resistance. Finn wasn't sure if they would be as accepting.

"Fine," he said at last. He heard Rey exhale a huge sigh of relief.

"Thank you." she said sincerely. "For listening. And for trusting me. About Ben."

"I still don't like him," he reminded her. Nevertheless, Finn gave her a fond look. "But I'm going to accept it, because of you. Because we're friends. I want to trust you."

Upon hearing his words, Rey's smile widened. But it quickly faded when she saw two figures standing behind him - Lieutenant Connix and Sallaros. Internally she panicked. She didn't notice when they arrived. Did they hear her conversation with Finn?

"We need to change course," Lieutenant Connix told them as calmly as she could. "The governor of Quas Killam aren't too keen to have us."

Sallaros bowed his head slightly in apology. "I'm sorry, it was my idea after all to bring the Resistance there. I didn't expect the governor to act that way. The planet is usually welcoming to all regardless of their political inclinations, because of their business."

"Poe and Rose are trying to see where we can divert our course to, depending on how much fuel we have to spare." Lieutenant Connix glanced at the cabins down the corridor. "We haven't gotten round to telling Commander D'Arcy and the rest of the higher command."

Rey immediately got to her feet. "Where are we now in hyperspace?"

"Hovering over Quas Killam." Sallaros really sounded annoyed, but more at the governor of the military industrial planet rather than at the Resistance members. He followed as Rey, Finn and Lieutenant Connix hurried back to the cockpit. "But lieutenants. My starfighters cannot accompany this ship any further. That was my agreement with them."

In other words, the Pamarthe Resistance squadron was no longer escorting them. But neither of them were willing to voice it openly. Instead, they kept their focus on getting to the cockpit. When they arrived, Poe and Rose were busy at the controls, sending out calls after calls to any possible allies that would be willing to take them in. Just like how no one had answered when they were on Crait, no one responded to them now, even when the Falcon was flying so close to the Core worlds. When the two of them saw their friends, they made way for the group to join them.

"How is it, Poe?" Rey asked, sliding into a seat next to Rose. It seemed that the Falcon had long flown past Quas Killam's orbit. They had also jumped out of hyperspace and were now just flying around aimlessly.

"It's pointless," Poe could barely hide his exasperation. "No response. Absolutely nothing."

Lieutenant Connix peered at their radio calls history. It was as Poe said; their allies had heard them, but refused to answer. Even their fuel reserves amount weren't encouraging. She bit her lip. "Is there any abandoned base nearby?"

Before either Poe or Rose could answer her, Sallaros piped up, "Do you only need military allies?"

The rest of the group looked at him questioningly. It was Rose who spoke up in a rather testy voice that did little to mask her dislike of him, "We're fighting a war, Captain. We don't have escorts. And we don't have enough fuel."

"I know, but you found me and my boys not through military means after all," Sallaros replied impatiently. He tapped on the radar screen that was tracking their movements against the galaxies' grids. "Look, why don't we just land somewhere around here. In a place where you already have allies, or at least, people who aren't so hostile to you." He gesticulated at their surroundings. "I mean, this thing isn't even a military craft, right? It's an old civilian ship. So just land as civilians and forget about the Resistance for a while."

"Hey!" Finn protested, stepping forward as if to drag the captain of the Pamarthe Resistance squadron by the collar.

Poe was quick enough to come in between the two. He signaled to Finn to remain quiet, much to the latter's dismay, and turned his attention to Sallaros. "Where do you suppose we land, Aslik? You know better."

"Where are we entering now?"

Rose was reluctant to answer, so Rey interjected, "The Core belt, but we're closer to the Perlemian route."

Sallaros gave her a withering, sidelong glance as he walked up to check the radar for himself. Rey found the entire move condescending, as if he didn't think of her as reliable simply because she didn't hold an official rank within the Resistance. But she forced herself to remain calm and not whack his head for it.

Like a true elite starfighter, Sallaros appeared to recognize planets simply by their grid location on the radar. He considered a few options in his head for a while before settling on one. He placed his finger directly underneath the planet he selected.

The rest of the group peered to see where Sallaros was pointing. Poe gave him an incredulous look, "Are you for real, Aslik? We just came from there a few days ago. I don't think they're all that friendly to us now."

Lieutenant Connix however seemed to agree with Sallaros. "We do have allies there. If we can lay low for a few days while we search for a new base, it might not be so bad. We can use the time to lobby Senators sympathetic to our cause. If the New Republic agrees to recognize this war, we may just get the military support we need."

"Yes, and I don't think you have to worry about First Order anyway," Sallaros added. "The way they've been acting, I don't think they'll be interested in blowing systems up anytime soon. We all should be safe." He looked at Poe. "How about it? If yes, I can try asking my boys if any of them are willing to join us momentarily."

Poe turned to the rest of the Resistance, including Rey, and asked, "What do you think?"

In all honesty, it was a fair plan proposed by the Pamarthen captain. Rose grudgingly nodded. And so did Finn, and Rey. In any case, it didn't seem like the Resistance had much choice either, considering their situation.

Seeing that there was no objection, Poe sank back into his seat and set the Falcon on course once again for the planet where they had lain their former general to rest: Chandrila.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: thank you so much for the support, I'm so grateful!**

 **I call this chapter the one where we meet the Knights of Ren. I've been meaning to expand on them a bit, so here it is. We also get a bonus young Ben flashback.**

 **Hope you like it!**

* * *

Brethren. The Knights of Ren had all but forgotten what they were supposed to be for each other. When the seven of them had set out together to leave behind the burning ruins of the Jedi temple in their wake, they had also cast aside their identities in exchange for new ones.

Of course, along the way, things changed: hierarchy wormed its way in, and rivalries were ignited. In large part it was thanks to their patron, Snoke. The lynchpin of the First Order had appointed Kylo his apprentice and subsequently, their Master - the latter a position that was mere formality, but enough to breed resentment in some of the Knights. Those who failed to compete for the titles were gifted the role of Shadow Assassins, echoing the Inquisitors of old Empire and answerable only to Snoke himself. The less useful ones - namely those who had demonstrated a strong reluctance to kill - were made Acquisitors. Their task was to secure provisions for the Order, as and when needed. Elite errand boys would be a more generous way of looking at them. In any case, regardless of these task divisions, the Knights' loyalty was to remain primarily to the Knighthood.

But recently two things seemed to put an end to all of that: Snoke's surprising death, and Kylo's ascendency to the golden seat of the First Order. Needless to say, many of the Assassins didn't take to the news kindly. But being galaxies away from First Order space meant that even when they received messages from Kylo through their scrambled networks requesting for the Knights to meet, they conveniently chose to not respond.

Not to mention that they also saw no need to inform their Master about the secret meetings they've been having behind his back. Caerra had once asked her fellow Knights about Kylo's continual absence. The Assassins simply ignored her. Nevertheless, she and her twin brother Caedus continued to show up for these secret meetings, in case there was anything of note she could casually mention to Kylo when they meet. But often these meetings were insignificant. The sessions they've had tended to be in the backroom of some Mid Rim cantina or another, but their conversations revolved around their fellow Knights travel (and killing) stories. There were of course, the occasional gripes against Kylo, but these were the sour grape sort of remarks which Caerra felt was of zero importance to Kylo.

To be honest, she never quite understood the animosity some of the Assassins harboured towards Kylo, and maybe she never would. The Knights didn't talk much about Kylo amongst themselves. But from what she could gather, the way she and her brother thought of Kylo differed from the rest, and in part because of how they encountered him.

Caerra remembered very well the time she and Caedus decided that they would owe Kylo their loyalty. Back then, he was still just Ben. A lithe but very withdrawn-looking boy, with eyes that spoke of loneliness. But when he came across the pair of twin siblings who were a good few years younger than him crying in that crystal cave, he had been the first to reach out to them...

 _"Where are your parents?" the black-haired boy had asked as he knelt beside them. His question only prompted louder wails from the two children, a boy and a girl who were both about five years of age._

 _The boy looked on at them, bewildered and shocked at the turn of events. But even so, he gingerly placed a hand on top of each of their heads, and patted them awkwardly._

 _"It's okay," he tried his best to soothe them. "Don't worry, we'll get you home. Your parents must be worried about you."_

 _Upon hearing his words, one of the children, a little girl spoke up in a muffled voice even as she continued to sob, "No more. No more!"_

 _The older boy who had found them seemed perplexed at her words. But his confusion wasn't for long._

 _"I see," he spoke quietly, with full understanding of what she meant. He put a hand on each of the children's shoulder and looked at them kindly. "I'm Ben. I stay with my uncle, he has a school nearby. His name is Luke Skywalker."_

 _The children stopped sobbing for a while, and their eyes widened at his words. "School?" the little girl repeated._

 _"Yes." Ben tilted his head to the side as he looked curiously at them. "Haven't you been to school before?"_

 _The girl was almost embarrassed as she replied, "No. Our aunt never lets us go to school. She says we're not worthy."_

 _Ben was silent. The girl noticed that his ears were not only getting red, but they were twitching. When he spoke again, however, his voice was comforting, "Then come to my uncle's school. He'll teach you how to read and write. And you can stay there too."_

 _The children looked at each other. The girl seemed unsure, but the little boy kept tugging at her arm with a pleading look. The girl noticed that Ben was peering curiously at them, and explained, "My brother. He can't speak." Another tug at her arm. The girl sighed. "He wants us to go with you."_

 _"What about you?" Ben asked her._

 _"I go with him," she answered as firmly as a five-year-old could._

 _Ben gave them a small smile. "How should I call you and your brother? What are your names?"_

 _The children's faces changed. The girl muttered something, barely audible enough for Ben to hear. They weren't names anyone would give a child. No one would name a child after a curse._

 _"You don't have to keep your names," Ben said. He held out a hand to the little boy first. "Caedus." And then he turned and offered the same to the girl. "Caerra."_

 _"Caerra," the girl repeated, tears welling up in her eyes. She pointed to her brother. "Caedus."_

 _The two children started crying again. But instead of being hunched up and clutching their knees, they ran forward to cling to Ben. The older boy frantically tried to appease them but failed. And so he walked out of the cave to return to school, carrying home two children but no crystal._

Caerra had to smile at the memory. She remembered that Luke initially was reluctant to let them learn the ways of the Force under him. After all, neither sibling was particularly Force Sensitive. It was Ben who had pleaded with his uncle to let them stay. Eventually, the training they received and Ben's constant encouragement helped the twins reach deeper into their Force potential.

A sudden movement at the door snapped her out from her reverie. Caerra looked up to see a figure stride in, his metal helmet nestled in the crook of his arm. She stood up, as did Caedus beside her, and the rest of the Knights already gathered in the dining hall of the old Sith castle. A strange location, to be honest, if this was to be a usual meeting. But if any of the Knights thought it, they said nothing.

The Knight who had just walked in was tall and well-built. He wore a loose black tunic with an asymmetrical cut, a product of battle circumstances more than a careful fashion choice. He was almost handsome, with his aquiline nose and neatly combed back hair reminiscent of the sky at dusk. Like Kylo, he had shed his real name in favour of one given by Snoke: Ceth Ren. But only one of them went on to be his apprentice.

Ceth signaled for the Knights to return to their seats. He set his helmet on the long table with one hand. With the other he set down a holocron, and loaded it into a port on his helmet. An image flickered into life, enlarged and floating above the table.

"This came into my network," Ceth said softly. His voice always had a strange musicality to it that was more chilling than enticing.

The rest of the Knights watched as the holovid played out in front of them. They saw their Master, escorting a girl into the throne room. Snoke trying to make the girl reveal the secrets he desired. All very normal business.

And then everything went to hell.

Snoke's body sliced into half. The lightsaber flashes. The way that Kylo and the girl united to decimate the Praetorian Guards. It was both danse macabre and marital waltz at the heart of the throne room. By the time the holovid ended, everyone had been stunned into silence.

And then came the murmurs and the mutters once everyone had registered their shock. Underneath the table, Caedus reached out for Caerra. The twins held hands as they remained still, observing as emotions got the better of their brethren.

"He lied to us!" one of the Assassins spoke out incredulously.

"And now he's Supreme Leader," another Assassin growled. "How very coincidental."

"Kylo..." A single word by Ceth brought a hush over the room. The Knights glanced up and towards his direction expectantly.

Ceth got up and sauntered towards the center of the table, where the image of Kylo extending his hand to the girl was frozen mid-frame. He mused, "What do you think he offered her?"

It was a rhetorical question; there was only one sort of request someone like Kylo would make with that hand gesture. But still, it needed to be said, and it was the first Assassin who had spoken up that said it, "An offer that should have been asked of us first."

Caerra thought Ceth almost smiled, or it might have been the dim lighting playing tricks on her eyes. She watched as he turned to face them and said gravely, "Then we must do what needs to be done."

Without warning, Caedus leapt to his feet. Ceth's head swiveled in his direction, and he raised an eyebrow questioningly at the young Acquisitor. A protest perhaps? Without saying it, his mocking expression made it clear what he thought.

Caerra shakily got to her feet. She bowed slightly to Ceth, before tugging Caedus's arm, whispering at him to sit down.

 _We must stay calm_ , her eyes seemed to tell him. Caedus reluctantly sat down, and Ceth took it as a sign to continue.

"It has come to my attention that there has been a change of authority within the First Order. We have a new Supreme Leader, and he has requested us to help eradicate treason. A sort of person that once we have impressed, we can easily manipulate."

He paused to allow his words to sink in before he declared, "For the sake of the Knights of Ren, I have full intention of cooperating with him."

The Assassins were the first to rise to their feet, crossing an arm over their chest with their heads slightly bowed. Ceth mirrored their actions and bowed back in gratitude. Only two Knights have yet to stand. They remained stricken in their seats at what was unfolding in front of their eyes.

Ceth gestured at them beseechingly. "Caerra. Caedus. Won't you stand with us?"

They had no choice. Not when they were in a room full of Dark side Force wielders who were naturally more powerful than them. Caerra and Caedus trembled as they got to their feet. And repeated the pledge of loyalty the Assassins had given to Ceth - the new Master of the Knights of Ren.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thank you for the reviews!**

 **As exciting as the coup drama may be, for now we're back on Chandrila. At Embassy Row, specifically. Where Ben receives a message someone left for him?**

* * *

Nothing had changed. The furniture arrangement in the living room, the carpets, the portaits that hung on the walls. Even the droids. As far as homecoming went, he had only agreed because Dure and Leo insisted. That, and the fact they literally delivered him to the gates of the apartment complex along Embassy Row.

"We'll pick you up later, so just stay there," Dure had warned him before her transport sped off. Meanwhile Leo waved back happily at him while shouting, "See you Uncle Ben!"

Did he have a choice?

When the doors of the turbolift opened onto the higher floors, he was prepared to walk into a dark and deserted apartment. Unfortunately, nothing had gone the way it should since he set foot on Chandrila. Not at Dure's manor yesterday, not at the Senate Plaza earlier, and definitely not now.

Instead of an empty shell of a house, he was welcomed to a well-lit home and the sight of house droids busy at work. He almost let out a derisive laugh. Fancy having these programmed machines still cleaning when the apartment had been vacant for more years than he could remember. His face darkened slightly. When its owners were all dead.

The droids were quick to detect his unannounced presence. They stopped whatever cleaning it was that they were doing and swiveled to look at him. There were three droids in all, a BX-model and two from the T2-series. They studied him warily. It was T2-LC "Elsie" who was the first to recognize him. Was it his hair? The other droids picked up on his data. Suddenly, it was as if he was ten all over again as the droids greeted him, "Welcome back, Master Ben!"

He stood there, blinking and unsure how quite to respond. The droids however had no such qualms. They immediately ushered him to have a seat. Elsie rolled off to "prepare the bedroom."

He wanted to object; he wasn't planning to stay on Chandrila after tonight. He hadn't even been back to his ship, and he had left his commlink on board, meaning that he hadn't been able to check in on how things were progressing in the Order. If General Hux had never been over-eager to be in charge each time he was away, he probably wouldn't be this mildly concerned.

But then his former nanny cut in with, "Your mother insists it should always be ready for you". And Elsie took his stunned silence as consent.

Just as Elsie disappeared from sight, a cup of freshly prepared caf materialized in front of him. He left it sitting on the low coffee table. He knew who gave it to him. There was only one droid programmed to cook. BX-778 probably didn't remember what happened all those years ago in the kitchen, but he did. It gave him nightmares for years.

He suddenly recalled those teary times he begged to not be left behind alone with no one but the droids. His reward for trying had been a hug and a kiss on the cheeks, but the arrangement remained. It got worse when he started going to school, and his parents' schedule got busier. BX-778 once told him factually that the family seemed to only sit down to have dinner together around ten times a year. From then on, he stopped asking and just assumed he would be having his dinners by himself.

Perhaps all of these was why he had been very ambivalent about having his own droid. To suddenly be back in this apartment, alone and surrounded by nothing but these machines, it unnerved him.

He leapt to his feet and all but stomped back to his room. Elsie had yet to finish changing the lampshade before he was ordered out. If Elsie had a face, he would most certainly look hurt. In any case, he obeyed and rolled away, making sure to close the door behind him.

The young master of the Organa-Solo household scanned his room. In the days before he was sent away, he spent much of his time in here. Specifically, at this desk, practicing his calligraphy as means of distraction. The droids also left him alone when they saw him seated there. He picked up a model ship that resembled the Millennium Falcon. He noted absently that it wasn't dusty at all, even though this room was long uninhabited. Elsie must have stayed true to his mother's orders.

The Falcon. How he wished he could hate that ship.

There was something else on his desk. It was squarish, wrapped in grey and white jacquard. Curious, he tugged at the silver ribbon holding the wrapping in place and it revealed a portable holoprojector. When he opened its side lid, he saw a set of six holocron nestled in the storage space. They were marked numerically, probably indicating the order in which they were to be played. Had they been left for him?

He loaded the cube labeled 1 into the holoprojector. The screen was located at the top, a typical blue glass panel. The image that flickered on was solid and full-coloured, taken from the shoulder up. But it must have been taken a couple of years ago. The woman who smiled into the recording still had more brown hair than grey, tied back into a loose braid.

"Hello Ben."

Her voice was mischievous, much like her personality in a good mood. His heart ached with a feeling he had fought so hard to keep down.

The recording was still playing. "When you see this, I am probably gone. For good. If it happens to be when you're not yet home... I'm sorry, sweetheart. It's not something that could be helped." The woman laughed, but there was more sadness than mirth. "Hopefully."

He sank down onto the edges of his bed even as his gaze never wavered from the image. "Now Ben, before you think I planned this whole gift from the beginning, I didn't. But the past few days, I kept thinking about you. I'm not sure if you know, but many, many things have been happening here and I can't reach you. I know I shouldn't be worried, Luke is with you. Still..." Her words trailed off into a sigh.

"In any case," she continued. "At the time I'm recording this, I am no longer in the Senate. And I am no longer on Hosnian Prime. If it turns out I never get to see you again, I hope at least I'm there near you in Chandrila."

Instinctively he glanced out his room window, where the Senate Plaza which housed the Senators' Mausoleum was in perfect view. When he returned his gaze back to the hologram, she gave him a look as if she knew that was exactly what he would do. His heart hurt.

"How are you, Ben?" The question took him by surprise. The image held out a hand, to indicate he shouldn't answer. "If you're going to say you're fine and smile... sweetheart, I think it's time to know, you are a terrible liar." She leaned in with a sad smile. "I'm sure it's too late by the time you see this. But let me just say it: I'm sorry."

He froze at her words.

"I'm so sorry, darling," she repeated. "About sending you away to be a Jedi. Without asking you if it's what you want." Her eyes softened. "You must have had dreams of what you want to do, and we... Ben, if you ever want to come home, please, please, just let me know. Sweetheart, you don't have to be a Jedi if it's not what you want."

He studied her face carefully. He saw the regret playing across her features. But her eyes reflected how much she missed him. How much hope she had in him.

Suddenly she gave a laugh as she pinched her nose bridge lightly, an attempt to wipe the tears threatening at the corners of her eyes. He wanted to reach out to touch her face, but this was a hologram. That much he knew. If anything, it pained him even more.

Once she had composed herself, she continued with a slight shake of her head and a chuckle. "Well, if there's one thing I would discourage you from doing, it's politics." She didn't appear to be serious about her warning, though. She looked thoughtful before she added, "I won't stop you if you want to enter politics, but it's just not something to take lightly. Once you're in it, you never leave."

She gave him a terse smile. _As I'm sure you know_ , was what it seemed to say. Nevertheless, she still doled out advice. "Politics isn't just about power, Ben. It's about duty. It's about answering to your constituents, being responsible for them. Protecting them. Standing up for what you believe is right." She grimaced. "Though it's a pain to get things done when everyone is too busy squabbling." And then again, that sad smile. "And oh, all the things you have to give up along the way..."

He had enough. He walked over towards the holoprojector to stop the recording. But as he got nearer to the image, he noticed the escaped tears on her cheeks. He reached out to touch, only to find his hand passing through. Of course, he thought bitterly. How had he forgotten.

"I'll always love you, Ben. Come home anytime, sweetheart."

The recording ended on its own. For a long while, he stared helplessly at where the hologram had flickered out. Something warm trailed down his cheek. When he wiped at it with a gloved hand, the wet, trailing warmth didn't lessen. Instead, there were more.

 _Come home anytime._

"I'm home," he whispered, and desperately hoped the person who had left him these holocrons could hear him through the Force. "But everything's too late."

* * *

Rey turned around suddenly. She felt it, that sharp stab of unceasing sadness. It had come on without warning. She had half-expected the Force bond to kick in and to have him looking back at her.

But there was nothing. The only sight that greeted her was the vast expanse of the metropolis of Hanna City.

"Rey?"

The gentle voice jolted her out of her thoughts. Rose was looking on at her. "Is everything okay? You look pale."

The young Jedi gave her friend a reassuring smile and a laugh for good measure. "I'm fine. I think I'm just tired. We've been flying in and out of space for some time."

Rose held out an arm for Rey to link hers through as they followed after the rest of the Resistance. She tried to sound cheerful about their otherwise bleak situation. "Well, I guess we'll be staying here for a while. It's such a pretty city, don't you think? There's so much green and open spaces."

Rey nodded along to her words. She glanced around them. Everything about the place appears to be very... Well, rich. The well-maintained parks. The smooth roads. Even the way their inhabitants dressed and spoke pointed to a city, if not a planet, that was relatively wealthy and erudite. A good-looking couple strolled past them wearing similar gunmetal grey robes with silver embellishments down their length. She overheard them speaking about balances, but the way they spoke about it sounded different from those shouted about by junk traders at the Nima outpost.

"Was this where Leia stayed?" Rey asked, still marveling at the sight before her.

"That's what I heard," Rose replied. "I guess that's why she wanted to be laid to rest here."

"It's beautiful."

Ben must have grown up here too. She added silently. Her mind recalled the deserts of Jakku and she felt herself suddenly out of place. Compared to him, she really was just a scavenger, wasn't she?

 _But not to me._

"Ben?"

Again she whirled around, a hand this time round flying to the nape of her neck. There was no one, but she could almost feel him breathing those words close behind her. What was going on? Was she finally losing her mind?

Rose looked really worried now. Rey just shook her head and continued on their way.

But she couldn't shake off the intense sadness she felt from earlier. Rey sighed. She only hoped this wasn't a sign that their sojourn in Chandrila would take a turn they didn't need.


	13. Chapter 13

He had waited a long time for this. It felt surreal now how easily the mantle of power fell into his hands. And to add to that: without a smidgen of blood.

Armitage Hux, Supreme Leader of the First Order, heir superior to the Galactic Empire, spread his crimson red robes slightly behind him before he sank down onto the cast-iron curule chair he had personally ordered to be his throne. Its cushioned seat was a shade of red that matched his robes. To mark the reign of a new Supreme Leader, he had carefully selected Ren's quarters to be re-purposed. Once Ren's pesky belongings were disposed of, his men made all the necessary adjustments for the conversion of the space into his throne room.

He wished the room was as spacious as Snoke's had been on board the Supremacy. But what it lacked in space, it compensated with design. Hux hated the aesthetics in Snoke's throne room - everything was just too garish. A complete nightmare, much like the man himself. The red curtains enveloping the room was too overbearing, and then those Praetorian Guards in their ugly uniforms. Snoke too complemented his room's interior with some gaudy outfits of his own. Every time Hux rode the turbolift to meet his former Supreme Leader and the lift doors opened, his eyes hurt at the tackiness that greeted him.

And then that idiot Ren refused to have a throne room on board the Finalizer. Hux could never understand. Where else was he to receive not only his men to be berated, but potential guests - representatives of those worlds who would eventually submit to the First Order? Instead he was satisfied with just holding meetings in the officers' meeting rooms. When he needed to inspect their troops, he requested them to assemble at the bay closer to their quarters. Not that Ren was vigilant about keeping an eye on their men anyway. Throughout his reign, he much preferred to let the military officers handle their own affairs.

It seemed that Ren had forgotten what the position and person of Supreme Leader meant. The Supreme Leader was meant to be the head of the First Order. He was to inspire awe and fear. He was to command authority. He must project himself as such. As the new Supreme Leader, Hux had every intention to restore to that title the respect it deserved.

For his throne room, Hux had opted for black and silver walls, layered side by side to play up the colour motifs of the First Order military uniform. His throne was more modest in size, but it only served to direct attention to him. He himself would be authoritative enough; he didn't need tall chairs to augment it. Like Snoke, he planned to be flanked by Praetorian Guards, but they would adopt a more refined version of the Stormtroopers suit. For now, however, his Guards continued to wear their officers uniform and they stood to his side, with the First Order banner hanging behind them.

"Supreme Leader, you called for me?" a familiar voice pierced his thoughts.

Hux smiled slightly as he gestured to Captain Peavey to come forward. As a reward for galvanizing the entire First Order military and navy to transfer their loyalty to him, Hux had promoted Peavey to the rank of General. They had reverted to the old order of things on board the Finalizer before Ren took over: Hux in charge, and Peavey his acting officer. It felt good to have some semblance of normalcy.

"General, how is the dissemination of the holovid footage?" Hux asked, leaning back in his throne. "I understand you planned to disclose it to the various networks in First Order space."

"It's going well, I believe," Peavey replied. "We're making sure to use proxy points so they don't immediately trace it back to us."

"Good, good. We just need to focus on rallying these worlds against Ren, especially their governments."

Peavey pulled out a datapad. "We have also received another message from Arkanis." Hux raised an eyebrow at the mention of his home planet; Peavey took it as a sign to continue. "Senator Sindian extends her congratulations on your appointment. She expresses her delight at seeing a fellow Arkanisian ascend to the Supreme Leadership."

From the First Order's early days, Carise Sindian had been desperate to gain entry into the inner circles of its leadership. No doubt this was a renewed attempt to ingratiate herself with the Order. Hux had never met the senator, but she was attention-seeking enough to be known about. Personally, he thought of her as frivolous, but Arkanis as a planet was a long-time ally, and an enormous help to the Order even before they broke away from the New Republic. It wouldn't hurt to send out a civil response to her. Perhaps she could use her position to speed up the process of consolidating their new empire.

He was about to request for a holocam when one of his guards leaned in and whispered, "Supreme Leader, a group who call themselves the Knights of Ren are here to see you."

"Ah, the Knights. Send them in. I will see them."

Peavey detected the slightest tremor in Hux's voice, but said nothing. Instead, he watched on passively as the new Supreme Leader adjusted himself on his throne to welcome an ominous group of six figures as they stepped out of the turbo lift.

They were all masked, similar to what Ren used to wear before he smashed his in an angry fit. Peavey was the one who had to authorize finances for the repair of the turbolift back then. Definitely an expensive anger management strategy. Still, it was better than letting it out on his officers like Vader did. Ren was notorious on board for being emotionally unstable, but at least none of their troops had to fear the prospect of dying at his hands for no reason.

The six Knights stopped about a foot or two away from where Hux was seated. All of them bowed their heads to him as a mark of respect and obedience. One of them came forward, a tall figure with a self-assured presence. There was no doubt he was the leader. He called himself Ceth Ren, Master of the Knights of Ren.

Hux looked beyond pleased. He had only ensured that his loyalists sent the security holotapes footage on to the Knights. He didn't expect them to cast Ren aside too. As Ceth introduced the other members of the Knighthood, Hux paid closer attention to those identified as Shadow Assassins. They used to be Snoke's. Ren had rendered them redundant. But now, they would receive a new lease for action under his rule. Hux almost felt proud of himself.

Even so, Hux thought that two other Knights appeared reluctant to be in his presence. It was rather hard to tell, since both of their faces remained hidden behind a mask underneath their hood. But he kept his comment to be shared afterwards with Peavey, after the Knights had taken their leave. "I thought some of them weren't too keen to be here. What do you think, General?"

"I must say they are a rather curious assembly of men, Supreme Leader," Peavey remarked casually as he watched the turbolift doors close behind the Knights. "I don't trust them."

"Neither do I, but they might prove useful," Hux mused, fingering the edges of his throne, a content smile playing on his lips.

* * *

They had agreed on the departure arrangement even before landing in the Finalizer. All the Knights were to set course for Mandalore, which Ceth had claimed as his homeworld, and then jump into hyperspace in quick succession according to their ranks. The Amber Hawk was the last craft to leave. But it heeded only one of those instructions: the hyperspace jump. Meanwhile its pilots had punched in the coordinates to...

Wherever. It didn't matter. They just needed to buy time and get away from it all.

The moment she stepped into the ship, Caerra had tossed her mask and her blade aside. As Caedus prepared for take-off, she frantically tried to set up their most secure communication channels which was connected to only one other ship. She got through, but there was no answer. Where was he?

She could feel Caedus's questioning gaze. She turned to her twin brother and shook her head in exasperation. His face fell slightly.

"I'll leave him a message, you make sure the other Knights cannot trace our passage," Caerra told him firmly. She returned her attention to the holocam and prepared to send a message. She only hoped he received it in time, wherever he might be.

Once she was done, she walked up to the controls to see where Caedus had charted their course for. She had to look at the screen twice to be sure. "Jakku? I know it's in the middle of nowhere, Caedus, but hardly a place the Knights won't think about going to hunt us."

Temporarily, Caedus's eyes told her. We head there, modify the Amber, buy new identification codes...

"And where do you plan we go after that?"

Caedus's only response was that faraway, longing look in his eyes. It was a look Caerra knew all too well. For the siblings, it could only refer to one place. A place which was otherwise prominent in the galaxy, and yet, under their present circumstances, the perfect option to hide in. With the exception of a particular person, no one else would associate the planet with them. Not even their Knights. The realization was so absurd that Caerra had to laugh.

It came out with a tinge of sadness. Caerra slumped in the seat next to her brother with a small smile. He reached out a hand to give hers a squeeze.

"We haven't been there since we were two," she reminded him.

Another squeeze of her hand.

"Our house was probably sold off a long time ago," she added with a bitter smile. She gestured around at their surroundings. "In any case, if we are to blend in Naboo, we shouldn't forget about her too."

Caedus grinned shyly. It wasn't as if the Amber Hawk was falling apart. In fact, for a remodeled shuttle from the days of the Empire, it was functioning very well. Kylo had quietly purchased and refitted it for them a couple of years ago, when they first joined Snoke. Since then, the twins made sure to take very good care of it. Even so, the Amber Hawk was very... well, plain. Not to mention a bit worn down with all the flying in and out of planets in the Outer Rim, and the stray scratches it earned during altercations with a starfighter squadron or two. Compared to the sleek ships of Naboo, the Amber would look like it was on its way to the scrapyard.

There was still some time until their ship entered Jakku's orbit. Caerra went over to their communication channel, to see if the signal on the end had been restored. Still offline. She had sent the previous message marked with the highest priority. Usually he would respond to such messages immediately. Caerra decided to send another message.

And another. And another.

The closer the Amber Hawk got to Jakku, the more urgent her messages.

By now, the Knights would have realized she and Caedus had turned their backs on the Knighthood. It also meant that they had turned away form the Order. It would only be a matter of time before the hunt for the three of them began.

But where was he?

From the corner of her eyes, she saw Caedus signaling to her that they would soon be leaving hyperspace. Jakku's network was too volatile to keep doing this.

Caerra hinged her odds on a final, desperate message, and logged off.

* * *

Usually the Chandrila Senatorial Gala was held within the compound of the Senate House itself, or in one of the nearby hotels. But this time round, motivated by the planet's better economic performances and an unwillingness to hold a party within the pessimistic corridors of the Senate offices, they had taken it outdoors to the Eleutherian Plaza. Plus, the changing seasons meant that the air was fresher, making it a much more invigorating experience to dine and mingle under the stars.

Even though the change of location for the gala was only announced three days ago, the planning committee did up the Plaza beautifully. It had turned into a massive open-air ballroom. A tentage stretched across almost half of the plaza's grounds, housing several round tables with designated seats. The space was illuminated with hanging lanterns running along the sides. The ceiling was kept transparent, allowing the guests to admire the night sky. Server droids were constantly on the move, carrying trays of drinks and hors d'oeuvre. The main courses were all prepared in advance, of course, and catered to each guest's preferences and restrictions.

The gala was technically by-invite only, but the planning committee had set up a standing cocktail area within the tentage for the staffers, as well as unannounced guests of the senators. Thanks to some smooth talking by Sallaros and Mon Mothma's aides, the Resistance managed to sneak in as fellow gala attendees. Commander D'Acy had managed to make contact with senators who were sympathetic to their cause. Rather than raising suspicions by having the Resistance visit them at their residences and offices... Well, why not "accidentally" meet at the party instead? Things were bound to be rambunctious, and many senators planning to run for the upcoming elections would be too eager to preen to even pay attention.

Nevertheless, Sallaros and Mothma's aides made it a point to have the Resistance fitted out in clothes appropriate for the occasion. For the first time throughout his entire years of service with the Resistance, Poe saw Commander D'Acy in a dress with her hair and makeup done, and he had laughed. That earned him an order to stay out of sight during the gala, much to his dismay. Out of Commander D'Acy's earshot, Sallaros had consoled him by saying something along the lines of how Poe was the most recognizable face of the Resistance; keeping him away was a strategic consideration.

So it came to be that Poe kept to the shadows in the balcony as he watched Sallaros, Commander D'Acy and Lieutenant Connix in fine (borrowed) clothes, enjoying fancy finger food and sipping wine. Maybe the ladies were right - they hardly dressed up, no one would notice them. It didn't seem as if anyone in the cocktail area recognized them.

Even Rose, Finn and Rey managed to be part of the party. Finn was really taken by the teal jacket and trousers in the clothing trunk Sallaros brought back for them from Mothma's aides. He wore them now, buttoned up to suit the formality of the event. Rose had selected a dress in an earthy tone, a very simple but comfortable cut. Rey would have preferred something more grey, but there was none in the trunk collection. So she opted for a midnight blue gown with caped sleeves.

Poe looked on as Rey excused herself and headed for the other end of the balcony, a glass of tea in hand. The poor girl must be feeling out of place amidst all this lavishness, Poe grimaced as he walked towards her. He glanced around to see that Commander D'Arcy and Lieutenant Connix had gone, presumably to meet with the Resistance's senatorial allies. It wouldn't hurt to be of some company to Rey now.

He was about to call out her name when he saw that she wasn't alone. There was a tall man who had appeared next to her. Judging by the way Rey and the man regarded each other, it didn't look like he was a stranger to her.

Poe frowned. Maybe Rey secretly had a lover? Now that he thought about it, she never quite divulged about herself to the rest of the Resistance. He had always assumed that they were Rey's only companions, but maybe he was wrong.

He crept closer towards the couple. They weren't exactly standing close to one another, but there was a certain intimacy around them that suggested... Well, that gave credence to his suspicions. At the same time, he couldn't shake off the nagging feeling that the man's silhouette was very familiar.

It was only when the man turned slightly and the light from the hanging lanterns illuminated his face that Poe saw the scar running down the right cheek. Even the combed back hair couldn't disguise who he was.

All the anger that he had kept hidden all this while - at the death of his comrades, at Leia's passing, at the near-destruction of the Resistance - suddenly burst to the surface. Without thinking, Poe pointed his blaster at the man and shouted, "Kylo!"

He saw the two of them turn towards him, Rey in horror and Kylo Ren in anger. He thought he heard Rey shout something, and everything froze.


	14. Chapter 14

The Upsilon command shuttle pierced through the night skies of Chandrila, its black wings and body melting into the darkness. Its two pilots were seated next to each other at the controls. Hardly a word passed between them.

In fact, they hadn't spoken a word to each other ever since they fled the Eleutherian Plaza. Along the way they made a quick detour to an apartment building along Embassy Row, before hastily heading towards a clearing where the shuttle was parked. Upon entering, they had gone straight to the controls, startling the ship back to life. They didn't even put in the coordinates for their destination. There was no time to deliberate; they just needed to get out of the planet's orbit as soon as they could. Where they needed to go, that could be decided later.

Kylo tugged at the rose gold clasp that held his midnight blue velvet cloak in place to let it fall onto his chair. When was the last time he dressed up like this? Probably when he was nine or ten, accompanying his mother to one of the many parties her politicians friends hosted. He hated them back then, and after everything that happened earlier at the senatorial gala, he realized that he hated them still.

Next to him, his new co-pilot too looked like she had just escaped from the dreadful party. When he met her on the balcony, she looked like she could have fit in among the guests milling about in her gown of a shade similar to his and her caped sleeves. Her hair had been braided differently. Now she sat next to him like the scavenger that she was, her braid a mess, a clip-on earring gone, and she looked as miserable as he felt.

It was already hard to believe that they were now seated next to each other in his command shuttle, flying it together. What was even harder to believe was that during the fracas at the senatorial gala earlier, she had been the one to grab his hand and dragged him away to run from the angry senators and shocked Resistance officers.

She shattered the comfortable silence that had developed between them with a question he would rather not answer. "Are you alright?"

"I don't know," Kylo answered simply. "I imagine those so-called friends of yours must be surprised, to have the last Jedi running away with their enemy."

Her lips pursed into a smile as she shook her head. "Not all of them. Finn understands. The others will come round. Besides, they don't have two fleets and an assassin group coming after them. Or..."

 _Or a friend who turned her back on you immediately,_ she added silently.

Kylo said nothing, but she could sense how upset he was about that last part. It saturated the air between them the entire way from the Plaza. The messages that one of his Knights left for him to inform about the betrayals in the Knighthood and the First Order only added on to it. Even so, she could tell that he was making a conscious effort to gain control of his emotions. Things rattled in the control room in tune with the ebb and flow of what he was feeling, but that as about it. No destruction of machines or anything of that sort.

"Dureena's anger is understandable," he said finally. "I let Hosnian happen."

Her words still rang in his head.

 _"Murderer."_

 _Dureena had said it as a whisper, but it was enough to cut._

 _"Dure..." Ben pleaded as looked up._

 _Dureena struggled to hold back her tears as she stepped away from him. But her haughty voice remained strong and steady. "Don't address me so familiarly. Not when you have all those blood on your hands. To think I thought you would be able to help Leo when..." She gave a hollow laugh. "I always thought it was wrong of Leia to send you away, but maybe she was right and I am mistaken. Look at you now. What good did her sacrifice do?"_

He wondered what hurt more, to hear those words coming from her, or that those words came from her. Maybe all she cared for was the Ben who was Ben Solo. Her Ben. Whom she believed had returned to take up the politics his mother had left behind. Not him. If that was the case, then how unfortunate. Her Ben had died a long time ago.

His mind suddenly went to Leo, the boy he had briefly made his apprentice. After knowing the truth about Kylo's new identity, would Dureena fear that her son might follow his footsteps? She didn't understand the Force. Thalon feared the Force. Granted, the boy wasn't strong with the Force. At least, not yet. But there were many ways one could deepen the connection with the Force. For some, it was their emotions. The Jedi would have frowned on such methods. If he had continued to train Leo, he would teach him otherwise. The Force is everything that surrounds them, that flows through them. One's feelings is equally a part of the Force. The Jedi's biggest mistake was to have its younglings fear emotions as a destabilizing factor. Sadness, loneliness, anger, despair... These feelings were to be suppressed and overcome because it might drive them down the path of destruction. How foolish. That wasn't the way younglings should be taught.

His co-pilot's gentle words brought his attention back to the cockpit. "Ben, why didn't you explain to her that she was mistaken? That you didn't return to make use of her friendship to claim Chandrila for the First Order?"

Kylo glanced at her, his dark eyes unreadable. "Mistaken? No, she wasn't. I came to Chandrila as Supreme Leader. I was supposed to return to my flagship with a treaty between the Order and the Senate. Her presence would have helped me."

"If that were true, you wouldn't have reacted the way you did."

"No, you're naive, Rey. As always." Those words slipped from his mouth before he could help it. As always.

Rey didn't look too pleased with the comment. She turned her chair away from him and looked ahead at the dark expanse of space in front of them. They had left Chandrila's orbits a while ago, but were flying aimlessly in its galactic sector. How long would it be before the First Order starts to detect this ship's movements? They needed to find a place to land, or at least stow this ship away and acquire another one to escape in.

It didn't occur to her earlier, but flying off in a command shuttle with the Supreme Leader of the First Order? A sense of guilt washed over her. Would this vindicate the holovid that had been anonymously sent to the senators' and the Resistance members' commlinks earlier?

The narrative in that holovid was mostly true. His interception of her on the bridge at the Supremacy. Their moment in the elevator. His murder of Snoke. Their annihilation of the Praetorian Guard. His offer to join him to rule the galaxy. It was all true - except she hadn't accepted his extended hand.

Poe and the Resistance weren't impressed. They also weren't convinced that the image was doctored, despite her attempts to insist otherwise. Not even Finn standing up for her was enough to sway them. The former Stormtrooper was instead berated by Poe and Commander D'Acy for withholding information from them.

Amidst the Resistance's internal altercation, Ben and Senator Adras were caught up in a crisis of their own. Ben's refusal to deny that he was indeed Kylo Ren had broken her heart. When he admitted to having killed Han as per the rumours circulating in Republican space, the senator had slapped him. Ben didn't retaliate. He didn't even try to stop her when she walked away, summoning the senators for an emergency session.

Instead he had stood there, lost and distraught. That was when Rey knew he must have lied about making use of the senator's long-time friendship to secure Chandrila's surrender. It wasn't Kylo Ren who trembled when Senator Adras tore her son away from him and warned him to never approach Leo again. It also wasn't Kylo's hand that Rey tugged at as they fled from the plaza together, after Finn urged her to in the middle of his physical fracas with Poe. It was Ben.

It was also Ben who sounded resigned in the cockpit right now. "The First Order can track this ship."

"Yes, but we can signal jam it. Run a decoy course. Get another ship from elsewhere." Rey wasn't going to join him in his commiseration. She swiveled her chair towards him and reached out to grasp his hand. His eyes widened at the sudden contact. Rey ignored it as she continued in a firm voice, "Ben, you're not alone. I'll help you. I'll stand with you."

He tore his eyes away from her gaze. "We need to go off-world. But much of it is under First Order space. If what Caerra told me was true, then much of the former Centrist worlds will not be our allies." He paused before adding, "I'm sure the Resistance by now would have alerted the remnants of the Republic that still support them. If not your friends, then Dureena..."

"There are still neutral planets," Rey insisted.

He almost scoffed at her words. "Rey, don't be naive. Our faces must be broadcasted everywhere by now. We were at the heart of the Republic." He grimaced. "The video wasn't targeted just at the Chandrilan Senate members. Even your friends received it. No doubt the holonetwork must have picked up on it."

"Then we'll just look for a planet with terrible signal," Rey was adamant to not give up. She blurted out the first place that came to her mind. "Ach-to."

Ben frowned. "Where?"

"Ach-to," Rey breathed. She tried to send him a mental imagery of the island. Its seas. Its caves. Its peaceful community, including the caretakers who must not like her very much. Its isolation. She could sense how appealing the idea was for him. "No one goes there. You'll be safe."

"And you? Your Resistance friends know about the place."

Rey shook her head. "Only what I've told them. They don't...exactly know where it is."

Except Chewbacca. Ben was in her mind as much as she was in his, so clearly he picked this information up, but he let it slide. He had to remind her of something else.

"You want to return to the Order?" Rey asked him in disbelief as she slipped her hand away.

"I have no wish to join the Resistance, Rey, if that is what you are asking," he told her flatly. "I only wish to deal with the traitors."

"But Ben..." Rey's voice faltered.

"It's still not too late if you want to return to the Resistance. If you join me, then you must know what my aims are and what they are not."

Rey too knew what her aims were. Someone had bequeathed them to her a few months back, and once again in the last few moments of her life - because she trusted Rey. She believed in Rey, as much as she believed in her son.

 _"He will come back, Rey," Leia had whispered to her as she pressed a small holocron into her hands. "And when he comes back, give him this. He will understand." The princess had touched Rey's face lovingly as she made the girl promise, "If he comes to you, help him, Rey. I made the mistake of losing hope in him. Believing for that split second as perhaps Luke did, that my son is gone. Ben felt that. Please, Rey. Don't let him give up hope on himself."_

She wanted to believe in Leia. She wanted to believe in Ben. One day he will understand what he has to do, who he has to be. But for now, while he was still lost in the darkness, she should be the one to constantly remind him of the light.

She had plunged into her darkness in Ach-to. He will re-find his light on that same Jedi island.

Rey took a deep breath and said, "I understand. It doesn't change anything. I want to be with you. I'm staying."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: HI everyone, sorry this one took a while to be out. This chapter is rather OC-centred, because I've grown to like these women and I wanted to give them more page-time lol. Anyway, I promise next chapter we'll return to our main characters (read: Rey and Kylo)! Thank you once again for the support and reviews (:**

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The Chandrilan Senate House was divided into two sections - a domed building where senatorial sessions were held, and a long, rectangular block that hosted the offices. A lush garden with an elaborate fountain connected the two sites. Senators generally made use of their saunter through the gardens to lobby their colleagues for support to pass bills, or simply to pick up on the latest gossip within their circles.

Meanwhile, a paved walkway from the centre of the gardens led to the Eleutherian Plaza, an open-air gathering space for senators and citizens alike. Tonight it hosted the senatorial gala, an annual highlight for the political elites, especially when it coincided with election season. It usually lasted into the early hours of the morning - a lavish dinner followed by an after-dinner party for the younger senators, and those who were young at heart. Last year, the party ended at four a.m.

Unfortunately, tonight's gala came to a premature end, courtesy of some revelations. Most of the senators grumbled as they flocked back to their residences, their fun night cut short not so much because of the threat of treason within their ranks, but more to do with an emergency session scheduled to begin in a matter of hours. It meant an early start to a day that had been declared a working holiday in previous years. By midnight, the area around the Senate House and the Plaza was deserted and left shrouded in darkness.

The only sign of life came from a warm light that illuminated the windows of a room along the block of senatorial offices. It belonged to one of the younger senators, if not the youngest to ever come into Chandrilan office since the dawn of the New Republic. Dureena Adras was elected in at the age of twenty-one, the same year she married her other childhood friend who was a year older, Talohn. It was also the same year she had chosen to retire from a life in the skies. Together with her husband, she walked through the doors of the Senate House carried by those youthful dreams of revolutionizing her homeworld's political scene. Within two years, she jumped from being junior senator to a full senator. Talohn too worked as hard as she did, and rose up the ranks significantly. In the previous election, he was appointed Chandrila's co-representative to the Republican Senate. The consensus amongst the younger senators was that the two of them would be the powerhouse couple who would finally eject the last remnants of the stubborn old men from their crusty seats.

And then everything came crashing down in the blink of an eye.

Dureena would never forget the Hosnian cataclysm. She would never forget how shortly before it struck, Talohn had called home, promising to be back in a few hours in time for Leo's birthday with a special present he had commissioned after hearing from his wife how the boy had talked endlessly about stars and planets. The present was supposed to be an interactive holobook about the Known Regions, meant as a bedtime read for Leo. He could read it on his own - or, if he missed his father, he could hear his father read it out for him. Dureena had laughed and agreed to whisk their son out of the house to distract him until his father returned.

Except that Talohn never did - not even a single trace of him. No remains, no ashes, not even a speck of hair. Leo's fourth birthday party was his father's funeral, marked by an empty coffin. He was a smart boy and picked up on things quickly. But he was still a child. There were some things he couldn't understand.

Dureena didn't mourn. She could, but she didn't. Her son needed his mother, and her colleagues needed their vanguard. So the day after the funeral, Dureena resumed her duties as senator, falling back on her work routine to get through the days. She waved away concerns about her well-being with assurances that she was not the sort to dwell on the past. If the younger senators were serious about change, especially after the First Order threat became more certain, they needed to charge ahead. That was the only way they could pay homage to Talohn's memory.

And then, Ben Solo reappeared out of nowhere after almost twenty years. Dureena was surprised at much the small timid boy had grown, and the air of confidence with which he carried himself. In the two days he spent with her and Leo, he listened attentively to her political plans. He didn't agree, but he also didn't decline, when she suggested he pick up where his mother left off in the Chandrilan Senate. At the very least, he believed in her dreams. For that brief period, Dureena felt as if her hopes for the future of their homeworld burned again. She didn't quite expect its last embers to be snuffed out by Ben himself.

Ben.

Her eyes grew sad at the memory of her friend. Even now she was struggling to come to terms with what transpired at the gala. How could someone like Ben become Kylo Ren? Dureena recalled vividly all those times the children at school made fun of his ears. She had marched up to box their ears, and then berated Ben for letting them tease him. Ben had answered quietly that those kids were physically bigger than him, and his mother wouldn't be all too pleased if he came home with a bloodied nose. Dureena had ratted to Leia anyway, and the princess had taken pains to unsuccessfully convince her son there were times when it is perfectly acceptable to pummel people. How could her friend be the infamous Jedi killer whispered about in certain circles? How could he let his hands be forever stained by the blood of his own father? How could he have allowed not just Talohn's death, but an entire system?

She had hoped so much for Ben to deny the allegations. But he said nothing. When he refused to meet her eye, Dureena's heart broke. It meant that all of it was true.

Even so, she couldn't quite forget the haunted look on his face during the confrontation earlier. She had expected Kylo Ren to stand before her, staring back at her with no remorse. But those dark eyes that kept evading her gaze reflected only shock, shame, pain. And above all, a profound sadness that knew no words. Would such eyes belong to Kylo Ren?

Dureena's eyes ticked over to a photograph sitting on her desk. The three of them - she, Talohn, and Ben - had taken it when they were around eleven or twelve years old. They were on a summer holiday by the beach, supervised by the Adras family. That didn't stop them from sneaking away and maxing out all their savings to have the image transferred to paper. Old technology made it more expensive than the usual holo-image platforms. But Talohn had convinced them that paper was the best way to hide it from their families and keep with them forever. It was Ben's last outing with them before he had to leave Chandrila, and the three friends didn't want to forget one another. Dureena remembered that it was that very day they all expressed their naive promise to always be together somehow. She declared she would fly, if only to annoy her family; Talohn opted to follow his family's path and chose politics. Ben had promised to come back a Jedi Knight. Upon their return, they would be the best team anyone in Chandrila could ever ask for.

Now, all those dreams were gone. They had each killed their dreams with their own hands. And Leo too must probably hate her now - he heard and saw what transpired on the balcony during the gala. Not just his mother's anger, but his new mentor's silent agony. Her son cried when she pried him away from Ben, who in turn had pleaded with her not to let her emotions out on the boy. As she ordered her aides to send Leo back to the manor, her son had begged her not to be angry at Ben. She had snapped at him instead, blurting out that rather than a gift, his Force sensitivity was a curse, just like Ben's had been. She immediately regretted it, but it was too late. She saw the look on her son's face. There was no retracting the damage such words inflicted on a little boy.

Within one night, she lost everything. She had never felt so alone. For the first time since receiving news about Hosnian Prime, Dureena Adras laid her head on her desk and cried.

She cried for Talohn - her husband, her best friend, the father of her son. She cried for him and all the colleagues she lost on the former capital of the New Republic.

She cried for Leo, and at how betrayed and lost her son must be feeling right now.

And despite everything, she cried for Ben, her dearest friend. She cried for his solitude and his anguish. But she especially cried at who he had become.

She was so consumed by her tears and her sobs that she scarcely noticed that her protocol droid had rolled in earlier and was awkwardly standing beside her, waiting for the right opportunity to prod her. When Dureena lifted her head briefly from her desk to gasp for air, the droid immediately piped up, "Lady Dureena -"

Dureena yelped in surprise. As she turned in her seat to see who was it that was speaking to her, her hands quickly flew to her face to wipe away the dampness on her cheeks. "Ah it's you, Teearr. What is it."

Her droid held out a handkerchief and Dureena gladly took it. As the senator blew her nose, TR-43 continued, "Lady Dureena, the Resistance members are here to see you, as you've requested."

Dureena sighed inwardly. Of course, how had she forgotten? This meeting was the entire point of her returning to office straight from the gala instead of retiring for the night. Her memories had kept her sidetracked. She pulled out a drawer at her desk and took out a small glass spray bottle. She spritzed it across her face, hoping that the volcanic water from one of the ice planets would at least de-puff her face and minimize as far as possible any trace that she had been crying. Once she was reasonably satisfied, she told Teearr to usher her guests in.

The Resistance members were still in their gala outfits, although each of their faces were strained. Poe and Alma D'Acy led the group. Dureena noticed that the swarthy young man who had tackled Poe earlier - was it Finn? - was with them too, but he was lingering at the back. Judging by his comrades sullen demeanour, it was clear that they hadn't forgiven him for allowing Ben and the girl to flee. The Resistance would deal with their own insubordinate officers. She had called them here for a different matter.

"Please," she invited them to take a seat on the large sofa in her office. They duly did so, except Finn. He stood to the side. Dureena pulled up her chair to sit facing the group. "Thank you for coming on short notice. I understand that the all of you must be eager to leave, after what happened."

Alma shook her head slightly. "No, Senator. The gratitude is ours, to have found another ally."

Dureena gave her a bitter smile. "Circumstances have made it such, Commander. I can only wish my support came earlier. But the wounds of the previous war have yet to fade from our memories. I hope you understand why I was unwilling to drag Chandrila into another one." She hesitated before adding softly, "But now I see that there is no other way. The presence of the Supreme Leader indicates that the First Order is not interested in peaceful coexistence. It seeks submission, by treaty or by force."

The young senator turned to Poe. "My apologies, Captain. For the public chastisement."

The Resistance's second-in-command flashed her a grin, mostly to put her at ease. "Feels like the good old days, Commander. I mean, Senator."

"Either works fine," Dureena answered offhandedly. She walked over to her desk and reached out for a datapad, typing something in it as she spoke, "I plan to push the Senate to start considering mobilization for war. Even if the Republic is acquiescing, Chandrila must resist. Otherwise, this planet and her legacy..." She grimaced slightly. "I hope it never reaches such a situation. But in the event that it does, I hope there is room for another officer in the Resistance. Although I cannot guarantee that my starfighter piloting skills are as sharp nowadays."

D'Acy responded to her with a smile. "There will be more than enough targets to practice on. You can begin with Captain Dameron, I'm sure he won't mind." She stood to extend a hand out to Dureena. The younger woman clasped it firmly. "Welcome to the Resistance, Commander Adras."

"It is my honour, Commander D'Acy." She returned her attention to the rest of the Resistance members, her new comrades. Dureena held up the datapad she was holding. Poe caught sight of only a few words: proposal, mobilization, declaration, defence, sovereignty; but enough to know what the senator was preparing for. "Shall we begin?"

* * *

The Niima outpost should have just been called a motley of tents. There was no real settlement around it, and no real spaceports either. Ships land as and when they pleased in the surrounding dunes. Terrible for crash landers running out of rations and fuel, but perfect for those with shadier intents seeking a meeting point to quickly do their transactions and leave. The general rule for business around here was no questions asked, as long as the right item was offered for trade.

The main perk of being First Order Acquisitors was the sort of items accumulated on different missions across the galaxy. All Caerra and Caedus had to do was to lug a bag full of prized objects - hyperfuel, crystals, relics, machine parts - and the traders were swarming all over them. Hidden behind their anti-sand masks, they quickly negotiated for clothes, ship identification codes, Republic credits, rations, signal jammers, and even labour to chrome paint their ship. By dawn, the twins were back in it, with refurbished interiors and an almost completely new exterior. It would remain the Amber Hawk to the two of them, but for the outside world, it would now be referred to as the Crystal Chariot. A pretentious enough name to suit their new cover as a pair of siblings who had recently come into money at a casino.

It was a terrible story, but it matched the location traces found on the codes nonetheless. Canto Bight and Ahakista were regular haunts of whoever the code belonged to; for its owner to end up in Jakku, one could only guess at his or her luck. With a fancy-looking ship and a record of frequenting casinos, their cover would be convincing enough. They just needed to fix the part about why they had decided to come to Naboo. Luckily for them, there was still a couple of hours to go before they reach the planetary system.

 _Honestly what's in Naboo?_ Caedus signaled to his sister. He had ditched his dark robes and tunic for something more earth-toned. Together with his helmet, those clothes were stowed away in a chest on board the ship, together with his sister's.

Caerra snorted. "Who was it who wanted to return there?" She thought for a while before answering, "Do we want to stay in Theed or should we... I don't know, stay in the countryside?"

 _Can you survive in the countryside?_ Caedus gestured with a smirk.

"Ha ha very funny," his sister muttered.

He knew her well enough to know that she was always an urban girl. She needed the buzz of city life. Everytime their mission sent them to some village or another Caerra suffered immensely. But that was when they were still First Order Acquisitors. As defectors, their best option was to remain discreet. Hiding away in the countryside seemed like the most logical answer. That didn't mean she was looking forward to it.

 _We can stay in Theed, if you want to,_ Caedus relented. He was her opposite. His personality tended to prefer the quieter pace of things away from urban centres.

Caerra shook her head. "No, we'll head to the countryside. Perhaps in a more respectable area, where we have room to build up our cover. That said, we need new names." She thought for a while and then she decided. "Ares for you, Sbalva for me. Rothar." Caedus wrinkled his nose at how ugly the names sounded, and Caerra added defensively, "We came into new money, we don't need to have respectable sounding names. We just need to sound like people who pilot something called the Crystal Chariot."

Caedus pretended not to hear the new name she had christened their ship. _Is there word from Kylo?_

Caerra hesitated, unsure whether to answer him. She had checked her comms the moment they boarded their ship to see whether Kylo had responded to their calls. Eventually she admitted, "Yes, but... It was a very short message. And I couldn't trace it. I suppose he too is on the run... He said he will come get us when it's time."

Her brother said nothing as he kept his eyes on the blue and white lights of hyperspace. But Caerra knew that he was worried. Not only for them, but for Kylo as well - the closest that the two of them had to another family member.

She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Caedus. We have work to do. The last thing we need is to have Ceth and the Supreme Leader tracking us through hyperspace." She rolled her chair over to where a hologram of the star chart was floating. "Our old ID codes. Can we leak a couple of decoy routes to the unknown regions using them?"

 _I already did that before we left Jakku,_ came her brother's reply. I _'ve scheduled them such that by the time we land in Naboo, if they track us, they'll still be making their way to the Unknown Regions._

Caerra raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Well. Looks like my baby brother is all grown up. I'm impressed. What about the Amber's landing on Jakku, though? Did we manage to encrypt that?"

 _I rigged it to read Ogem_ , Caedus confessed.

Caerra had to laugh. Ogem was indeed close to Jakku, but there was practically nothing there of help _. Good luck to Ceth,_ she thought darkly. She sank back in her seat, staring at the swiveling star chart in front of her. _Good luck to us and Kylo too._


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: hi everyone, as promised this chapter is focused on Rey and Kylo. I thought of writing in scenes from other parts of the story but I guess since they're both away from the rest of the galaxy on Ahch-To now, it's apt to have their scene be a standalone.**

 **We'll be back to more FO-Resistance action in the upcoming chapters!**

 **Thank you so much to everyone who's been keeping up with this fic. You're the best!**

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It had been less than two days since they landed the command shuttle on the rocky plains of Ahch-To, and already Kylo Ren was proving extremely frustrating to be with. He was just so...difficult.

Rey wished she could let out a scream, but her companion was seated to the side, wordlessly watching her as she prodded at the giant fish being roasted over an open fire. She refused to glance at him, but she could sense that occasionally, his dark eyes would flicker over to her face. He also kept biting on his lower lip, as if he was dying to say something. Rey ignore it all as she kept her glare on the fish. After their most recent spat, she wasn't particularly keen to start a conversation with him.

With the exception of the sound of waves crashing against the rocks, or the crackling of the fire before her, the island was enveloped in silence. Which meant that when the light breeze carried Kylo's hoarse whisper to her ears, she could hear it very clearly: "You don't have to do this. I can do it."

It sounded so pathetic, she was moved to snort a reply. "You shouldn't. After all, you're a prince."

Kylo winced at her words. He suddenly felt even more uncomfortable sitting on the low rock near the fire. She was clearly still mad at him for what happened earlier in the day.

"I didn't mean -"

Rey barely gave him a chance. She half-hurtled his portion of fish towards him. And then she scooted over to another rock on the other side of the fire with her own portion, facing away from him.

Kylo picked at his fish miserably. It was more burnt than grilled, but if he complained, it might just make things worse. This situation was already distressing enough as it was. To be more exact, ever since they landed on this far-flung island, the two of them found themselves caught in trivial disagreements, one after another. What was it about this island that drove them on edge?

Their latest spat started in the late morning. It had something to do with Kylo's abject horror at being ordered to obtain some disgusting-looking green milk from one of the creatures on the island. He had seen the large, snouted mammal when they landed close to sunset the previous day. The thought of actually milking the thalasiren was repulsive enough, let alone doing it. Rey then mocked him for never having done anything related to basic human survival in his life, and that maybe he should give this one a try. His stubborn response was an exclamation along the lines of, "Rey, I was a prince!"

The girl wasn't too impressed. Her face blanched slightly at his words, and he immediately wished he had kept his mouth shut. Rey however maintained her composure as she coolly shut him down, "Well, now you're a nobody."

Kylo wasn't quite sure how or why, but those words which she meant as an insult had the opposite effect on him. Of course, he had stomped away in protest, but not before staring at her in amazement. Eventually, he did return with bottles of thalasiren milk. But it did little to appease Rey.

For a brief moment, Kylo wondered if he would be forced to sleep outside the hut that night. He almost sighed at the idea of being out in the cold, until he recalled that his command shuttle was parked nearby and had a very comfortable cabin. The only reason he agreed to sleep on the granite floor of the hut the island's Lanai caretakers made him share with Rey last night was because he didn't think it was fair to let her sleep on that unforgiving surface on her own. But perhaps for tonight, he should just return to his cabin.

Maybe this agitation that developed between them had to do with their sleeping arrangement. Apart from the uncomfortable surface, the hut they shared wasn't particularly large, either. It might have accommodated either of them comfortably, but for both of them to be in it together...

On top of that, the island was also making them acutely aware of what the other was feeling. At times, these emotions were overbearing, saturating the Force and threatening to suffocate them both. Being in a small, enclosed space like the hut only made it worse.

But Ahch-To was a Force field after all, so it was little wonder the two of them got into the squabbles they did. Rey let out a quiet sigh as she finally turned around to look at her companion. The dark-haired man was crouched near the fire, warming up a bottle of green milk. When the temperature was right enough, he uncorked the bottle, took a sniff but put it back down on the ground.

Rey bit back a smile. "Is thalasiren milk too much for the Alderaan prince?" she teased as she walked up to him.

He looked up at her, but quickly averted his eyes when she sat down next to him. Rey wasn't sure if his ears really turned red, or if it was the light from the flame. She also wasn't sure if the comforting warmth that she felt came from the fire, or from being beside him.

"You're suddenly very happy," he spoke in a quiet voice. It complemented rather than disrupted the silence around them.

"Am I?"

"I take it you're no longer angry at me," he turned to her, peering into her eyes to ascertain the truth of his statement.

"We're the only two people here on this island," she reminded him. Her voice was shaking but Rey pretended not to notice. "It'll be troublesome if we're going to keep fighting over every little thing."

She caught sight of a smile playing on his lips. It sent a strange thrill through her heart. He should smile more, she thought suddenly, fighting back a temptation to reach out and touch his face. He always carried such a sad, hollow look. What would he look like with a broad smile? Would his eyes look different? Would -

"Rey, sleep in my cabin tonight."

His words took her by surprise. Rey blinked a few times, unsure if she was hearing him right. "What?"

"You're trembling." He murmured, gesturing at her forearm. "It's warmer in my cabin."

Rey looked down to where he was pointing, and noticed the goosebumps along the entire length of her arm. Earlier this morning she had changed into a dress given by the matron. It was too small, so she ripped the sleeves off and wore it as a tunic instead. It was comfortable during the day. But once night fell, she wished she had her woollen grey cape with her.

Unfortunately, it was together with the rest of her things on board the Millennium Falcon, and she had no idea where the ship or the Resistance had gone to by now. All she had now was half of the blue kyber crystal that remained of Luke's lightsaber, dangling from her neck like pendant.

That, and a borrowed hut on Ahch-To, a command shuttle cut off from the rest of the galaxy, and the person crouched in front of her.

"Rey?"

The sudden mention of her name broke her train of thoughts. She lifted her head only to find herself staring back into a pair of eyes that was patiently waiting for her answer.

Again, that swelling sensation in her heart.

There could only be one answer.

It came out as a firm whisper, "Okay."


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: in this chapter we leave Kylo and Rey to erm, do whatever it was they would do in the cabin of his command shuttle. We return to Dureena, Kylo's two loyal Knights, and a brief Hux cameo for those who might have missed him in this story. thank you for following this fic as it progresses!**

* * *

It was barely two hours in, and already, somehow, everything had gone to hell.

Dureena could only watch on as her colleagues harangued each other. Chagrined, she sat down tersely in her designated seat.

She had requested the emergency session to address the extremely high possibility that Chandrila would soon be called to war. Clearly, that agenda was all but forgotten. Instead, the senators - most of whom were men and women twice her age - were engaged in concurrent shouting matches. _On the bright side_ , Dureena thought darkly as she collated her datapads, having given up for the day. _At least now all the factions are out in the open_.

It was easy to tell who were the pro-First Order senators. The moment Dureena had voiced out her concern that Chandrila might now be a target after Kylo Ren fled from the planet, an entire wall of senior senators had stood up and protested the "unannounced and unwelcome intrusion of Leia Organa's band of rebels." Without missing a beat, they had then redirected the focus of the emergency session to her, claiming that she had been colluding with the Resistance to bring Chandrila into war. Her allies, namely the younger senators, had leapt to their feet to defend her. There was a couple of name-calling, one or two scandal-shaming, a chorus of accusations about allegiances. The final straw was when a junior senator had thumped his monitor so hard, it flew straight to the head of a senior senator seated not too far from him. It was a miracle her colleagues hadn't come to blows.

A loud thud rang through the domed hall of the Senate House. For a brief moment, everyone fell silent. A burly male in a black robe slowly got up to his feet, wincing slightly as he touched his bruised cheek. And then the cacophony of voices resumed, much louder now than before.

Dureena's lips curled in disgust. So much for the last vestiges of senatorial decorum.

"Teear, let's go," she called out to her protocol droid as she rose from her seat, gathering her skirts around her.

The droid hesitated. "But Lady Dureena, the House is still in session."

"You call this a session? We shall be no part of this monstrous incivility." Dureena tapped a button on the side of Teear's arm. The droid's chest revealed a small compartment into which Dureena slid in her datapads. "Come on, Teear."

Everyone seemed to be concerned with having a piece of action, throwing insults and punches. They barely noticed her leaving the hall through its main doors. A couple of senators glanced in her direction as she did so, but no one bothered to follow her out. What a pointless session. Maybe after today, the Senate itself would be pointless as well.

Dureena let out a deep sigh as she walked down the promenade linking the Senate House to the senatorial offices. It was still late morning. Usually the sun's warmth and fresh air would lift her spirits. Not this time. Everything felt cold and lifeless. It was as if the emptiness of the senatorial plaza matched her heart. Teear kept pace beside her as they headed for her transport in silence.

Within Hanna City, Dureena got around on a roofed hovercraft that was more standard government issue rather than private property. She had her own, of course, that was given to her and Talohn as a wedding gift. But being a vintage, it was otherwise too flashy for everyday commute. The government-issued craft wasn't going to catch anyone's attention with its muted maroon exterior. Plus it had autopilot, something that her private hovercraft didn't have. She keyed in the course for her manor before she kicked off her shoes to curl up on the backseat.

"Really, Lady Dureena," Teear began disapprovingly.

"Be quiet, Teear. The Republic is dead and I'm tired," Dureena mumbled. She shifted to turn her face away from her droid. "It's been a long day."

Another drama was waiting for her at home with Leo, that was for sure. Her long day had yet to end. It probably had just begun. But Dureena kept those words to herself and shut her eyes.

Teear thought her mistress sounded more sad than exhausted. Or maybe it was a combination of both. Sometimes, it was hard to tell with humans. But if one thing was clear, it was that Dureena wanted to be left alone on their way home, and it was probably wise to respect that.

The droid's head swiveled to the craft's dashboard. Her eyes scanned the details of their estimated traveling time. Then she set an internal alarm for thirty minutes, and powered down.

* * *

A few thousand light years away, General Peavey made his way to where the new Supreme Leader was seated on his curule chair in the throne room on board the Finalizer. He bowed slightly when he neared the younger man. Armitage Hux was really enjoying his new role, one of his hand kept smoothing out nonexistent creases on his fine red robes.

General Peavey maintained a straight face as he spoke, "I suppose you'd like updates, Supreme Leader."

Hux's nose wrinkled slightly at the casual way his acting officer addressed him. "Ren. Have we managed to trace him?"

Peavey shrugged. He walked up to a wheeled monitor and pulled it closer towards them. "We've been trying." He tapped a few sections on the screen and a galaxy map popped up, with a red dot in one of the outer rings in the centre. "The last we've detected his command shuttle was on the edge of the core sector, before it suddenly vanished." He cast a sidelong glance at Hux. "I'm afraid even the latest hyperspace tracker technology couldn't locate its whereabouts."

The general thought Hux paled briefly. The latter had personally overseen the military's latest project under Ren's nose, and he was extremely proud of it. Just because Hux was now the Supreme Leader didn't mean Peavey would stop finding ways to take jibes at him. Rubbing into Hux's face that his technology was failing him was one of it.

"I want him found, General." Hux insisted, but his voice trembled slightly with nervousness. His hand gripped the edge of his chair. "We must not let that traitor escape."

"He won't be able to run away for long, Supreme Leader. The Galactic holonets have picked up on the holovid, they should be broadcasting it nearly everywhere by now. Plus, the Unknown Regions are mostly ours. And we have allies in Hutt Space. There is very little room for him to escape."

"Good." Hux cleared his throat as he sought to regain his composure. "What of our attempts to consolidate the Order?"

Peavey's hand swiped at the monitor, and the screen changed to a list of all known planetary governments that formed the New Republic. Hux stood to have a better look at it. Most of the icons on the list were in red, except for a stray handful that still glowed yellow. "The Republic is effectively only these planets now, but all small planets and too fearful or too reluctant to fight. They can be easily persuaded but Naboo, Chandrila, Ryloth and Gatalenta... they are probably going to be rather difficult."

"Difficult, but not invincible." The Supreme Leader stared pensively at the red icons that dominated the screen before him. Eventually he turned to announce his decision. "General, give them the ultimatum to surrender. Tell them that the First Order is here to provide them stability. But if they resist, we will decimate them like we did their beloved New Republic Senate."

* * *

If it was entirely possible, Theed had grown far more beautiful than what the twins had remembered it to be. Or perhaps, they had been gone for so long, and their memories filled with so much pain, that they had forgotten how their homeworld looked like.

Over time, Naboo aesthetics had gotten more refined, and the spaceport had expanded to include floating docks. Caerra and Caedus had eased their so-called Crystal Chariot into one of those, and acquired permission to stow their ship away in one of the hangars for long-term visitors. As they rode an airbus to take them to the capital city, Caerra noticed that there were more forested areas now on the outskirts. Whoever was ruling the planet must have made an effort to increase green spaces around Theed to complement its pristine lakes.

Once they reached Theed's major commercial square, they headed for the nearest realtor to negotiate for some rooms to rent for the next few months. It was easy to secure a small, fully-furnished cottage in the suburbs with the amount of Galaxy credits they had. There was no question asked about their identities, and their only receipt was an acknowledgment letter on the realtor's end that he had leased out the lodging to Ares and Sbalva Rothar. As far as anyone else was concerned, these siblings were phantoms with no real presence, only money.

It was an hour's walk from the square, and the siblings decided they might as well take the chance to acquaint themselves with the revived city. Somehow, Naboo had managed to accommodate the latest in communications tech without altering much of its culture. The men and women of Naboo still wore the same types of outfits that the generation before them did, in the same rich tones and pastel shades. The roads were still cobbled at some parts, and parks of varying sizes were found at every possible juncture.

"I can't remember the last time I saw so much green, Caedus," Caerra murmured. She bent down to pick up a rominaria flower that had fallen off the shrubs lining the street. "I thought I would never see this again."

Her brother gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. Caerra tucked the flower into her hair before she straightened up to continue their journey to their new home.

"Maybe I should start planting that around the cottage, if there's space," she wondered aloud. "We also probably need a job."

 _One that doesn't involve taking things from people, I hope_ , Caedus added with a faint smile.

Caerra gave him a shaky laugh. "Don't worry, we'll look for something more... normal. Although," She lowered her voice. "Based on our cover identities we really don't have to. But it might be nice to build informant networks in this place. We never know when we need allies."

Caedus knew perfectly well the unsaid circumstances she was referring to. The first was if their cover was blown, and they needed to escape Naboo immediately. The second was if Kylo managed to find them, and they needed to carve out a new cover for him.

He glanced up at the clear, unsullied skies of Naboo. Kylo too must have gone into exile for the time being. Or at least, he and his sister desperately hoped so. He was beginning to enjoy the tranquility his former homeworld offered.

He would hate to have it destroyed by war.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Hi everyone, apologies that I haven't updated for some time.**

 **But I felt that the break did me well - I genuinely like how this chapter turned out. It seems that it might be possibly be one of the biggest turning point in this fic. I won't give away too much, but do let me know what you think of it!**

 **\- Althea_Draxus**

* * *

Rey leaned back into the leather seat in the common lounge of the command shuttle, her hands cradling the shard of blue kyber of her lightsaber. She heaved a deep sigh. It didn't seem like she would be any step closer to having a lightsaber anytime soon. Ahch-To was many things, but it was hardly a place to source for materials to build one.

Well, technically she could glean some scraps from the shuttle, but she doubted its owner would be too pleased about that idea. It would also be somewhat ungrateful, considering that for the past week they've been sleeping on the craft, he had entirely given over his premium cabin to her.

It seemed that everything in the cabin was even more luxurious than his quarters on board the Finalizer: the bed, the duvet, the full-length mirror, not to mention the private refresher. She had picked up a bottle to inspect its contents closer during a shower, and judging from the label information, the amenities were supposedly made from some hand-plucked flowers organically grown somewhere in one of the greener pastures of a Mid-Rim planet. Rey didn't know much about these things, but she was quite certain the soap, shampoo and conditioner didn't come from some First Order run-of-the-mill toiletry set.

In short, everything made Rey uncomfortable. It wasn't the sort of setting for someone like her. She had tried - and failed - to persuade Kylo to take back his cabin. He wouldn't even agree to share the bed, even though it was large enough to fit three persons. Instead, his only response had been a mortified expression as he insisted they stick to their present arrangements because "it is only right." Rey eventually gave up, although each time she caught sight of him asleep on the seats in the lounge, his feet dangling out, she thought that the only right thing in such a situation was for him to sleep in a space that could accommodate his entire frame.

Rey bit back a smile as she thought on how their relationship had progressed since they came to Ahch-To. The first few days were filled with spats every few hours. But by the fourth day, things were better. She and Kylo could sit down to have meals like two normal people who didn't have opposing burdens of the entire galaxy on their shoulders. They could meditate to the crashing sound of waves at the edge of the temple ruins, or look up at the night stars together. They could touch each other's feelings in the Force, sensing one another's intense emotions even if neither dared to raise it up as a topic of conversation.

Perhaps these changes had to do with them being in a place cut off from the rest of the galaxy, where the enmity between the Resistance and the First Order was nowhere touching the waves of the waters surrounding the island. Regardless, these experiences felt liberating. Intimate. As if the two of them had finally found a world they could belong to.

Would it be selfish if a part of her hoped for this to never end?

Her musings was cut short when Rey suddenly felt a presence behind her. Her smile widened by a fraction as she turned around, "Ben, you're ba -"

She never quite got round to finishing her words, because what she saw in front of her made her scream. Almost instinctively her hand reached for the nearest object on the table and hurled it in front of her.

The glowing Force Ghost of Luke Skywalker sighed as a commlink hit him on the shoulder. "Yes, hello back at you, Rey."

"Luke?!" Rey spluttered, her eyes wide in disbelief. She scrambled to her feet to take a closer look at him. "It's you! But... But... you're gone. I felt it through the Force. Leia too. And your grave marker on the cliff the caretakers did for you... How..."

The old Jedi sighed deeply as he plonked himself on the seat next to hers. "Sometimes the Force thinks it's a good idea to send someone back to..." Luke's words trailed off when he caught sight of the blue kyber sitting on the table. He held it out in front of Rey, who looked back at him with a sheepish expression.

"My lightsaber!" he exclaimed once he realized what it was. "You broke it?"

"I... We... It was the Force," Rey finished lamely.

Luke said nothing as he set the crystal down. "Well, about time you create your own, I suppose."

Just then, his attention was drawn to something behind her. Rey turned to follow his gaze. The door to the premium cabin was wide open, and even seated at the lounge, anyone could see that the bed was very much slept in. Immediately she blurted out, "It's not what you think!"

"I didn't think anything," Luke remarked innocently. "Anyway, I didn't come here to talk about why you've been sleeping in my nephew's quarters. I came here for your lessons."

"My lessons?" Rey echoed.

"I promised you three, you only got to two point five before you left. Or did you think you no longer need a teacher just because you've been reading some ancient texts?"

Rey blushed. "You knew?"

"Not when I burnt down the Jedi tree. I came to know about it later. Much later." He waved his hand dismissively. "But how were those texts? Could you read them?"

"...Threepio translated parts of them for me where he could. But even so, I couldn't understand most of them," she confessed.

Luke shrugged as if unsurprised by the answer. "Well. That's pretty much why the Jedi had to study them. But was there anything at all that you remember or stood out for you?"

Rey thought for a while. "Yes, there is. There was this part:

The burden is ours

To penance, we hew.

The Force binds us all

From a certain point of view."

She hesitated briefly before adding, "You taught me that in between all in the Force, is Balance. The light and the darkness are two sides of the same... there is no light without the dark, and no darkness without the light... So when the texts spoke of the resolving of the grey... I mean, as things are now... is it..."

Luke eyed her for a long while. Rey stood where she was, nervously looking back at her teacher. Without warning, Luke got up and flicked a finger on her forehead.

"Ow!"

"You already have the answer right in front of you," Luke said with an exasperated sigh. "Do you think darkness and light must always be on opposing ends, fated to always collide, and never be in harmony? After all those hours I drilled into you about balance. One cannot exist without the other, not even in ourselves."

"What about Ben?" Rey asked quietly.

Luke's eyes softened. He had half-expected the young man to be a factor behind her question. "You care too much for my nephew." He chided her, but there was no frustration in his voice, only resignation. "To penance, we hew. He must decide for himself. Rey, where he goes, it is not for you to choose." He sounded almost sad instead. "For once, Rey, let us let him choose."

* * *

Meanwhile, atop a cliff on the island of Ahch-To, Kylo Ren stood staring at the mid-sized pillar the Lanai caretakers had erected to mark the site where Luke Skywalker had vanished when he became one with the Force.

Even until now, he was unsure about how he felt about the face-off with his former Jedi master on Crait. Knowing that Luke wasn't physically on that salt planet, and that he didn't die at his hands... Kylo couldn't understand why back then he felt more relief than dread. Afterwards, when he sensed Luke slipping away to melt into the Force, there was no joy in his heart.

Only sadness.

He thought he hated Luke. So why did he mourn for his death?

This cliff was one of the first things Rey pointed out to him upon landing in Ahch-To, along with the cave she had told him about. She had hesitated to show him the cave, preferring instead to go on and on about how the cliff was the best spot to meditate, since it was facing both the open seas and the twin suns. It was also where Luke gave her a Jedi training crash course for all of two lessons. The third lesson had never come into being due to circumstances both she and Kylo were all too familiar with.

In fact, Kylo knew why Rey chose not to dwell too much on the cave: she was afraid. Not so much by the darkness residing in it, but that he would be compelled to go to it just as she had.

Kylo supposed she meant well, but she shouldn't have bothered. The presence of the cave had no effect on him. Rather, the only place he was compelled to go to was this cliff. It was the only place on this island that truly unsettled him.

The cave might be the seat of darkness, but this cliff-top was the heart of light. Kylo Ren wanted to settle the conflict in his heart, not prolong it.

Unfortunately, there was a certain trait he couldn't quite shake off: curiosity. As a child, it had led Ben Solo to find out that he wasn't a freak like what those boys at school taunted him as. He was Force Sensitive, a condition that was at once a curse and a gift. And then as a teenager, he came to find out that the masked man who frequently appeared in his dreams was none other than his grandfather, whose legacy he was destined to carry.

And so once again it was the case that Kylo Ren found himself succumbing to his innate inquisitiveness and he made the decision to climb the cliff after sunset. He had thought that perhaps at night, in the absence of the suns, the cliff would be less amenable to the light.

He was wrong, of course. The night did nothing to diminish the pull of the light that had saturated each crevice on the cliff. If anything, Luke's grave marker only served to amplify it.

Kylo set his cloak on the ground a few meters away from the grave marker before he sat down on it. Even in the dim light of the stars, he could make out the shapes of the roiling waves as they curled and crashed into the rocky beaches of the island. Absorption, and surrender. Over and over again, through the movement of the waves, the Force sought to recalibrate itself. Absorption of the light, and surrendering to the darkness. Absorbing the dark, and surrendering to the light.

Kylo began to understand now what Rey had meant when she said this was the best meditation spot on the island. As the cool breeze brought on by the waves fluttered through his hair, he was increasingly enveloped in a certain peace he hadn't known he could feel.

How ironic. War was brewing in the galaxy. The Force shouldn't feel this peaceful.

When Kylo made himself Supreme Leader, he had decided on a rule that would be benevolent. Yes, the galaxy needed order and stability. The First Order, with its disciplined military, was more than equipped to offer that. But just arms alone was not enough. Order was only meaningful when it resulted in acceptance. The Empire had fallen because its rule failed to take the sentiments of the ruled into account. The Resistance had emerged as protest against the cruel heavy-handedness of the Order under Snoke. Based on these realizations, Kylo had tried to effect change where he could, often to the chagrin of the Order's top command.

But now, everything that he had been trying to achieve would be reversed. Hux would see to it himself to erase every last trace of Kylo's reign in the Order. And then he would bring the full strength of the Order unto the Republic and neutral planets.

And if Kylo knew Dureena well, she would now be lobbying to mobilize for war against the First Order, not only in Chandrila, but also in the Republic as a whole.

He couldn't even count on his Knights. He had no doubt that what Caerra and Caedus told him was true. He had lost the Knights to Ceth, and now his brethrens must be roaming the Outer Rim and Unknown Regions, baying for his blood, Caerra's, and Caedus's.

And now, here he was, hiding out on a remote island that wouldn't even appear on the space charts unless one knew the exact coordinates.

None of this was what Kylo envisioned his rule as Supreme Leader of the First Order to be. How did everything go so wrong, so fast?

Just then, he felt a ripple in the Force. He tensed. He recognized this presence. He didn't need to turn to know that coming to sit beside him now was a young man in dark tunic, his golden brown hair resting in soft curls on his shoulders.

Kylo wasn't sure if he was in the mood for a conversation with the Force Ghost of Anakin Skywalker right now. The last time they encountered each other on Mustafar, Anakin had left Kylo unconscious at the foot of his command shuttle.

Anakin, however, didn't share the same reservation. "I take it we're still not friends."

"You're my grandfather," Kylo reminded him irritably.

"You really waste no time in making me feel old," Anakin tried to joke. When he noticed that his grandson wasn't particularly amused, he added quietly, "There is still conflict within you, but it is of your own doing. Stop resisting."

Silence passed between them for a few beats, punctuated by the sounds of the waves. Anakin waited patiently until his grandson finally spoke, "If Anakin Skywalker is who you truly are, then why did you turn?"

Anakin's voice was laced with sadness as he answered, "Love."

He noticed that Kylo seemed mildly taken aback by the answer, but he continued; his grandson needed to understand. "I was afraid of losing Padmé. After losing my mother... Padmé, she was my everything. I couldn't imagine life without her. And I had...seen her death. Just like I had seen my mother's. I didn't want to be as helpless in saving. I was desperate to do anything if it meant I could keep her alive. And... Palpatine, Sidious. He knew my greatest fear. I fell for it."

"The power to resurrect," Kylo said softly. "Which is what only the dark side of the Force could offer. That was why you turned."

Anakin gave him a bitter smile. "At the cost of everything. Padmé, my love. Obi-Wan, my best friend. Even myself. I killed all of them to become Vader. But even Vader couldn't escape from their ghosts."

He cast a gentle look at his grandson. "Ben, the dark side takes more than it gives. In the end, it will leave you with nothing but desolation and despair. You know this. You feel it too."

Kylo looked away as he mumbled, "But so did the light. Even the light had so much loneliness."

"I know. But there's one thing the light allows that the dark side forbids: it's love." Anakin placed a gentle hand on his grandson's shoulder. "My child, you have love residing within you, even now, after everything. With every step you take towards the dark, that love welds you even closer to the light."

"Love destroyed you."

Anakin shook his head. "No, it was fear that destroyed me and created Darth Vader, not love. Love saved me, as it will surely save you, Ben Solo."

Kylo's bitter smile conveyed just how much the boy believed his words. Anakin pressed on as kindly as he could, "Your father, your mother, and of course, that girl." Kylo's head lifted slightly at the mention of the latter. "Their love for you, and yours for them. Do not underestimate the power of love, Ben Solo. Do not make the same mistake the Jedi and the Sith did. Love is beyond light and darkness."

And then Anakin drove in a final point, which was rather unfair, but perhaps was the only way left to convince the boy. "Your mother told me that when she was carrying you, you were a ball of light amidst all the darkness. And she's sorry that she could only understand it now what it meant. There was no need to cast out your darkness to keep your light. As long as you have love, your heart will always belong to the light."

His words were met with silence. Kylo kept his head down, but there was the slightest tremor in his shoulders as a drop of moisture fell into his open palm before he clenched it tightly into a fist.

Anakin touched his grandson's hair lightly as he whispered, "May the Force be with you, Ben Solo."

By the time Kylo turned to look at him, he had gone, leaving the heir to the Skywalker bloodline seated alone at the top of the cliff, surrounded by darkness, illuminated only by the brightest stars in the skies.

Stars, as many in the galaxy know, will always burn and die. But with each death, comes resurrection.

And with each resurrection, a new life.


	19. Chapter 19

Act Two: Rebirth

Two months have passed since the fall-out on Chandrila.

Kylo Ren and Rey have fled, their whereabouts unknown.

The First Order under Supreme Leader Armitage Hux is ruthless in its expansion, adamant to secure control over all parts of the known galaxies. In the face of the Order's technological prowess and military strength, the planets of the Republic are openly succumbing one by one, putting an end to the institution.

This leaves the Resistance standing as the galaxies' last beacon of hope. Those who were brave enough to resist the Order found their way to the group led by General Alma D'Acy...

* * *

Poe Dameron, newly reinstated Commander of the Resistance and leader of its revived Black Squadron, tapped his feet impatiently as he leaned back in his seat. If he was in his starfighter, he might have taken to the skies earlier, doing rounds just for the heck of it until his squadron mates arrived.

Unfortunately, the Millennium Falcon, despite its spanking new interior, was a ship designed for co-piloting. All he could do at most is ignite the engine to keep it running, and wait.

Poe hated waiting.

Staying still in a place, not having his brain whirring to figure out how to balance the g-force and flight aerodynamics meant that his thoughts would flit towards other things. And he wasn't sure if he was keen on that.

Sometimes, they were pleasant things - the new starfighters, expanded squadrons, a new base, the comfort and confidence in knowing that the Resistance was no longer fighting this war just by themselves. Within the space of two months, the Resistance had evolved from rabble-rousing rejects operating from a single, wizened light craft, to become a decent military fleet. What they lacked in size and technology compared to the First Order, they compensated with guts and stubbornness.

But other times, it was the darker thoughts that surfaced. The whispers in his head that there was no guarantee their new allies would stay with them to the end. The faces of everyone they lost, or were forced to lose, in this war: his squadmates, the admirals. And of course, Leia, whom he cared for deeply as if she was his own mother.

He hadn't had time to mourn for her; none of them did. Not for her, not for their comrades.

Ever since her passing, it was as if the Resistance was being hurtled through one mess after another. It was only recently that a semblance of order came to be.

Poe almost chuckled. The last thing he ever cared about was hierarchy, but here he was right now actually relieved that there is a clear chain of command in place. If only Leia could see him.

"I'm sorry!" A breezy but resigned sigh jolted him from his thoughts, followed by a loud thud as a duffel bag hit the floor of the cockpit. His co-pilot pulled her long hair into a ponytail as she plonked herself into her seat. "Waited long?"

"Long enough for me to start thinking I should fly with Beebee-ate instead," Poe joked.

Dureena Adras smirked. "I don't think he likes the Falcon very much," she said, even as she went about flicking on the switches and controls to prepare for flight. "He always sounds so sad everytime we talk about the Falcon. As if he's always being scolded by this ship."

Poe raised an eyebrow. "You're suddenly conversant in intradroid speak?"

"Try talking to children, Poe. You'll understand."

"Speaking about children, how's your son? Didn't you just get off the comms with him?"

Dureena grimaced as she put on her headset, but said nothing. It wasn't too long ago that she traded her fancy robes for a Resistance jacket. She had ceded the senatorial floor in Chandrila to her other colleagues who, as far as she knew, were still hankering with the old guards about how accommodating they ought to be with the First Order. She chose instead to head her planet's starfighter squadrons - at least those that had chosen to leave with her - as Commander.

Of course, leaving politics to join a war came with its own sacrifices. Just because she knew she had to do keep her son away from her for his safety didn't mean she was any happier about it. Before flying off to be with the Resistance, she had shuttled him off to her second uncle in Birren, a kindly, warm-hearted old man who welcomed the prospect of a child bringing life to his manor. Leo had expressed his gratitude by throwing a tantrum. Dureena didn't blame him. He was a five-year-old who lost his father, and now he was left behind by his mother. She would be upset too.

But constantly shifting from one base to another while fleeing a superior enemy wasn't exactly the sort of environment she envisioned her son to grow up in. Birren was boring, but boring meant safe. She had promised him that she would come back for him once this war was over, and she reiterated that promise everyday during their morning calls. She tried her best not to think what might happen if it turned out she couldn't keep that promise.

From the corner of her eye, she noticed that a half-smile was plastered on Poe's boyish face. Before he could say anything, she warned, "No more telling me how much you understand how he feels. He's staying put in Birren."

Poe put his hands out in front of him. "I didn't say anything. Only... you seem to hate yourself for it."

Dureena laughed, but it rang hollow. "A bit hard not to. Especially since I'm doing exactly what I was angry at Leia once for doing to Ben. How ironic."

A shadow flitted over Poe's feature at the mention of the Organa-Solo heir. He spoke as if to reassure Dureena, but his voice was cold, "Don't worry, Leo isn't going to end up like him."

Dureena gave him a sad smile. "You still hate him."

"You forgive him too easily," Poe accused her in turn.

His co-pilot fell silent. She fiddled with the controls for some time before she asked in a half-whisper, "Is he... Are they still nowhere to be found?"

Poe shook his head. Dureena let out a long sigh. "We must find them, Poe. We made a mistake in letting them go. We're only putting them in the way of danger, what's with the premium bounties being placed on their heads."

"They're Force Users, Dure. Probably the two strongest ones. I wouldn't worry so much about them."

"I'm sure they can take care of themselves without us. This war, however, needs them." She leaned back in her seat with a thoughtful expression etched on her face. "I only hope they're no longer on opposing sides. It'll be difficult otherwise..."

"We're going to find Rey," Poe interjected firmly, "and we're going to bring her back."

"And Ben?"

Poe pursed his lips into a thin line. "If Kylo Ren remains our enemy, we are left with no choice."

"He's our friend!" she protested.

"More yours than mine," Poe muttered darkly as he looked away.

Their communication channels crackled just in time, and they heard Captain Connix's voice floating in through their headsets, putting an end to their conversation.

"Commanders, all set?" Connix sounded tired. Ever since she was promoted, she was put in charge of coordinating the Resistance flight runs, not to mention the extra duties that came along with being acting officer of the Resistance's new cruiser, the Organa - courtesy of their Mon Calamari allies who named it after the Alderaan princess.

"Hanging on, Captain?" Dureena asked kindly.

"Nothing that caf cannot fix," Connix replied. "Ah right, we've sent over the coordinates earlier."

"Yeah, I've already punched them in," Poe chimed in.

"Okay, good. Remember, Commanders. This is a recon ops," Connix reminded them sternly. "No fancy flying. You sweep in, gather photos and data, and sweep out. No alerting the defense system. Also, I have specific orders from General D'Acy to see to it that you both and the Falcon come back in one piece."

"We'll be sure to have a boring flight, Captain," Dureena promised, although a grin crept onto her lips and her eyes exchanged a knowing glint with Poe's.

"Tell General D'Acy we'll be back in time for dinner and a full report update," Poe added on cheerfully before they logged off.

They waited patiently for the flight crew to wave them off, giving them the clearance to leave the Falcon's hangar on board the cruiser. It wasn't exactly a dreadnought, but it was still large enough to be home to a fair number of squadrons - not just the last few of the Resistance's own, but also the Pamarthen Elite's and the Chandrilan breakaways. Aslik had managed to convince his boys to join the cause, and the Chandrilans were veterans who once trained and flew under Dureena. And just like that, suddenly there was an overwhelming ratio of pilots within the Resistance.

General D'Acy, agreed upon by everyone to take on the leadership mantle left empty after Leia's passing, wasn't particularly comfortable with such an arrangement. Too many starfighters and too few ships made for an unbalanced fleet. But over the past few weeks, donations have come in from their allies, in credit and in kind.

Beyond that, they just had to make do with their existing light crafts, including veteran ones like the Falcon.

As the ship skimmed through space, Dureena turned to Poe and laid out a bet. "Four hundred credits that we can do this in half the projected time."

"Six hundred that we'll do it in three hours," Poe upped the stakes.

The blue and white light of hyperspace flashed in front of them. He grinned. "Well, time to find out."

* * *

In the peripheral space of the Core galaxies, the Finalizer cemented the presence of the First Order within its orbits: massive, ominous, and threatening. Planetary systems were no match for its defence walls; the ship was now capable of absorbing energy blasts and redirecting them back out with twice the intensity.

It was a technological feat that Armitage Hux had overseen for months in secret when he was still General. Ren had caught wind of it once, and ordered the project to be put on a moratorium. Hux had acceded to it only on paper. When he became Supreme Leader, he wasted no time to speed up the completion of the technology. Within the two months since he rose to the apex of the First Order hierarchy, his fleet had a fair number of opportunities to test it out in real-time. With the technology, a small squadron of TIE fighters was able to decimate a cruiser in a matter of moments. There was no need to annihilate planets and moons when you could crush the commanding vessel upon first engagement.

His strategy proved to be successful. The fatality rate for his men was much lower now; squadrons often returned to the flagship intact at full strength. But the ruthlessness of the First Order weaponry had eked capitulations from much of the remnant Republican planets. Neutral ones meanwhile found themselves convinced - or threatened? - to join the Order as allies.

Of course, a few planets were stubbornly holding out, but Hux wasn't surprised by their reactions. These were planets known to be fiercely protective of the ideals of the New Republic, and the Republic before it. It would only be a matter of time before they grudgingly acquiesce, especially when the Republic would cease to exist.

Meanwhile, among those that have sworn their allegiance to the Order, many of these planets were hoping to be selected as the new capital. When he announced his intention, he had dubbed this capital the new Coruscant. Since then, planets have been sending emissaries, vying for his favour.

They needn't have bothered; the announcement was a formality. Hux had long decided which planet would carry the honour: the incredibly wealthy world of Arkanis, one of the first planets to break away from the New Republic and pledge allegiance to the Order. Coincidentally, it was also his home planet, although it must have been years since Hux stepped foot on it.

Nevertheless, he still accepted to meet those other emissaries. He accepted their gifts and their promises of loyalty. But unbeknownst to them, he and his aides have been in close discussions with the delegation from Arkanis about the future of the planet.

They've discussed his residential arrangements, the parallel First Order and Arkanis organizations and institutions necessary to run the planet. Today, however, something else was on the agenda: his coronation ceremony, which would also be a grand celebration of the Order's victory over the Republic. Carise Sindian, Senator and representative for Arkanis, was adamant to commit her planet's wealth for these purposes.

"There is nothing to worry about, Supreme Leader," Sindian insisted again in that smooth voice of hers. "As I've mentioned, this is our, your home world's, gift to you. What is a massive party compared to the honour you've bestowed upon us."

"I have no qualms about the intention of Arkanis as a planet, Carise. But I find it hard to imagine that you will make offer this for nothing in return," Hux raised an eyebrow.

Sindian gave a tittering laugh as she waved a hand in front of her face. "Please, Supreme Leader. Perhaps I am merely feeling generous."

The Supreme Leader didn't share her amusement. "Get on with it. I know you too well for you to keep up this pretense."

Sindian's smile remained on her lips even as her eyes grew cold. "The governorship of Arkanis. I'm assuming you're not going to employ the senatorial model for your reign. You'll need someone to oversee it."

Hux snorted. "Governorship. How petty."

Sindian shifted uncomfortably. "There is one more thing." She hesitated before speaking, "I'd like a restitution...of my peerage status."

Hux narrowed his eyes at her. "Peerage? Those useless noble titles are of no use for the Order. Resolve it yourself."

"Please, Supreme Leader," Sindian quickly protested. She leaned forward slightly as if beseeching him. "The House of Elders is obsolete. Far too many of them would turn from you to restore the Republic. I know that. What I am suggesting... the Order can create a new peerage system. A new royalty. Selected by you. Beholden to you. Those who would never turn their backs on you."

Hux scoffed at her words. "The Order has its own way of conferring status. What do we need petty nobles for?"

Sindian bowed her head at his decision, albeit reluctantly. "Supreme Leader." She cleared her throat lightly. "To return to the business at hand. My senators think that it would be apt for there to be a demonstration of a peace treaty being signed between the Order and the Republican planets who have surrendered. Perhaps...Your Eminence might want to issue an ultimatum to the peoples of the galaxies, as a gesture of the Order's goodwill: no more fighting in favour of stability. We will have it broadcast on the HoloNet, of course, so that everyone will know of it."

Hux fell silent as he turned the offer over in his mind. Finally he spoke, "Have the Resistance and their supporters announced as traitors."

"But of course, Supreme Leader," Carise dipped into a curtsy before she took her leave.

Hux barely gave a glance in her direction as she walked out. When he looked up, he saw that General Peavey was already at the door. Hux noted that the older man resisted a sigh as he made his way over to where Hux was seated on his throne.

"The delegate from Arkanis is rather cumbersome, is she not, Supreme Leader?" Peavey asked casually.

"Give her some credit, General. If it wasn't for her, Arkanis wouldn't have turned to us so quickly."

Peavey gave his Supreme Leader a look. "You sound rather defensive of her."

"She's our strongest ally, General," Hux's voice was even as he spoke. He gestured to his Praetorian Guards to step back. They assented, and Peavey stepped up to stand beside him. "You must have something to say, to come over all the way here."

Peavey shrugged as he replied, "I believe it is my duty to keep you abreast of developments on my own accord, Supreme Leader." He handed Hux a holopad. "I have with me the latest communique from the Naboo. It might be of pleasant surprise to you."

Hux perused the communique, his eyes skimming through the content of the holopad. He barked out a laugh. "Conditional surrender?"

"Yes, Supreme Leader. All they're asking for is to be an autonomous planet under the Order."

"There can be no such thing!" Hux snapped. "The Naboo is home to so many -"

Peavey sighed as he interrupted. "It's not a bad proposition, Supreme Leader. As long as we keep their planetary defense system, their relations, and their economy under our control. They are a rather wealthy planet, after all." He eyed the glowering Hux carefully. "Think about it, Supreme Leader. Please excuse me. There are matters on the bridge I need to attend to."

Hux waved him off impatiently. Once the doors shut behind him, Peavey allowed himself the chance to roll his eyes. He had lesser chances to do so ever since he became the Supreme Leader's right-hand man. Peavey was certain that Hux didn't have any love for him; their dislike was mutual. But Peavey was older. He had served in the Empire, and he had mastered years of patience in listening to his superiors utter one inane comment after another.

But above all, Peavey was loyal to the Order. He believed in its dreams. He didn't have to care about who its Supreme Leader was. Leaders change.

But not the utopia promised by the Order.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the spaceport of Naboo, a sleek black Upsilon-class command shuttle folded up its wings as it settled to land on one of the docks. If the access codes and the craft didn't seem to match, the spaceport controllers pretended not to notice as they gave the clearance. Only one organization flew such a distinctive command shuttle that descends like a bird of prey. It was better not to ask. Especially not in the situation that Naboo was facing currently.

Kylo Ren watched on wordlessly as the craft made a sweep near the curve of the cliffs. He had only been to Naboo once: it was a long time ago, on a different ship for a completely different purpose. But the hills and lakes still looked the same. Theed continued to glisten. He could almost believe that this Naboo was as peaceful as he remembered it to be.

"Ben..."

He turned around at that kind voice. It was the only voice he'd been hearing for the past two months. He never tired of it.

He never tired of _her_.

"We're here," he told his companion.

"I know," Rey answered, getting up from the control desk to stand beside him. "This is Naboo? It's...beautiful."

"It is," he agreed absently as he studied her face. He noted the way her brown eyes lit up at the plenitude of greenery and clear lakes before her. "There's more to see if you step out of the ship, you know."

She turned as if to look at him, but kept gazing back out the window. "Have you been here before?"

"Once," Kylo answered quietly. "Let's go."

"Wait, Ben."

Kylo glanced at the hand she laid on his arm, and then back at her face. He waited for her to continue.

"Are you really sure about this?" Rey asked him, peering up into his eyes. When she saw his hesitation, her voice softened even further, "You can come with me, Ben. With us."

"I am the Supreme Leader," his voice was shaking, but even so, her face fell at his words. "Now that it has come to this, I have to set it right." He lifted her hand off his arm, but didn't let it go. "Shall we?"


End file.
